369
in some R&R, which included wide-scale sport hunting.
28
The first British-style
house was constructed in 1822. The British built a sewage disposal system targeting
roughly 22,000 people. But by the early 1990s, that same system had the effluent
from over 164,000 people to cope with, one reason, writes Charlie Pye-Smith, the
“‘old queen of the hills’ is plagued by squatter settlements, pollution and unfettered
tourist development”.
29
And, citing the then secretary of the Nilgiri Wildlife Association, “no matter
where you look, every tree, every flower, every blade of grass you see will be exotic,
an import of the British”.
30
Bollywood also caught the Nilgiri fever, and at least 200
feature films have been produced around Ooty.
31
Uncurtailed development has polluted all of the region’s waterways, which have been labeled “Rivers of Poison”.
32
41.5 Nilgiris Conservation
Fortunately for the indigenous peoples, and the wildlife, the Nilgiris can be viewed
half-full, rather than half-empty. Spanning Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary to the
northwest, and Mukurthi National Park in the southeast, with Mount Doddabetta
(2623 m, 8605 feet) in the center, the International UNESCO Nilgiri Biosphere
Reserve encompassing parts of the Western Ghats and Nilgiri Hills was established
in 1988 to protect this unique tropical and subtropical biome of moist broadleaf
forests and rare shola montane temperate grasslands, bogs, and forest mosaics, the
first such Man in the Biosphere Reserve created in India. And since that time Aralam
Wildlife Sanctuary and Bandipur-Nagarhole Tiger Reserve, and Silent Valley
National Parks were formed, in addition to the Sathyamangalam and Wayanad
Wildlife Sanctuaries. The overall region, covering some 5530 square kilometers
(2125 square miles) is part of one of four biological hotspots touching India—the
Western Ghats
33
—home to well over 3300 vascular (flowering) plants of which a
28 See Nilgiri – Sporting Reminiscences, by An Old Shikarri, Higginbotham And Co., Madras,
1880. The book also cites such previous hunting enthusiast works as Colonel Walter Campbell’s
My Indian Journal, Edmonston & Douglas, Edinburgh, 1864, Shakespeare’s “Wild Sports of
India,” and “Hawkeye”.
29 See In Search Of Wild India, by Charlie Pye-Smith, UBSPD Publishers, New Delhi, 1993.
pp. 47, 49.
30 ibid., p. 49.
31 https://www.zostel.com/blog/bollywood-movies-shot-in-ooty/. Accessed April 14, 2020.
32 “Rivers of Poison,” by Sibi Arasu, The Hindu Business Line, June 23, 2017, https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/cover/rivers-of-poison/article9733513.ece; See also, “Water bodies near
Ooty polluted by industrial effluents,” by Shantha Thiagarajan, The Times of India, October 5,
2017, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/water-bodies-near-ooty-polluted-byindustrial-effluents/articleshow/60946985.cms, Accessed April 14, 2020.
33 See, for example, Daniels, R. J. R. (2001) “Endemic fishes of the Western Ghats and the Satpura
hypothesis,” Current Science 81(3):240–244.
41.5 Nilgiris Conservation
in some R&R, which included wide-scale sport hunting.
28
The first British-style
house was constructed in 1822. The British built a sewage disposal system targeting
roughly 22,000 people. But by the early 1990s, that same system had the effluent
from over 164,000 people to cope with, one reason, writes Charlie Pye-Smith, the
“‘old queen of the hills’ is plagued by squatter settlements, pollution and unfettered
tourist development”.
29
And, citing the then secretary of the Nilgiri Wildlife Association, “no matter
where you look, every tree, every flower, every blade of grass you see will be exotic,
an import of the British”.
30
Bollywood also caught the Nilgiri fever, and at least 200
feature films have been produced around Ooty.
31
Uncurtailed development has polluted all of the region’s waterways, which have been labeled “Rivers of Poison”.
32
41.5 Nilgiris Conservation
Fortunately for the indigenous peoples, and the wildlife, the Nilgiris can be viewed
half-full, rather than half-empty. Spanning Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary to the
northwest, and Mukurthi National Park in the southeast, with Mount Doddabetta
(2623 m, 8605 feet) in the center, the International UNESCO Nilgiri Biosphere
Reserve encompassing parts of the Western Ghats and Nilgiri Hills was established
in 1988 to protect this unique tropical and subtropical biome of moist broadleaf
forests and rare shola montane temperate grasslands, bogs, and forest mosaics, the
first such Man in the Biosphere Reserve created in India. And since that time Aralam
Wildlife Sanctuary and Bandipur-Nagarhole Tiger Reserve, and Silent Valley
National Parks were formed, in addition to the Sathyamangalam and Wayanad
Wildlife Sanctuaries. The overall region, covering some 5530 square kilometers
(2125 square miles) is part of one of four biological hotspots touching India—the
Western Ghats
33
—home to well over 3300 vascular (flowering) plants of which a
28 See Nilgiri – Sporting Reminiscences, by An Old Shikarri, Higginbotham And Co., Madras,
1880. The book also cites such previous hunting enthusiast works as Colonel Walter Campbell’s
My Indian Journal, Edmonston & Douglas, Edinburgh, 1864, Shakespeare’s “Wild Sports of
India,” and “Hawkeye”.
29 See In Search Of Wild India, by Charlie Pye-Smith, UBSPD Publishers, New Delhi, 1993.
pp. 47, 49.
30 ibid., p. 49.
31 https://www.zostel.com/blog/bollywood-movies-shot-in-ooty/. Accessed April 14, 2020.
32 “Rivers of Poison,” by Sibi Arasu, The Hindu Business Line, June 23, 2017, https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/cover/rivers-of-poison/article9733513.ece; See also, “Water bodies near
Ooty polluted by industrial effluents,” by Shantha Thiagarajan, The Times of India, October 5,
2017, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/water-bodies-near-ooty-polluted-byindustrial-effluents/articleshow/60946985.cms, Accessed April 14, 2020.
33 See, for example, Daniels, R. J. R. (2001) “Endemic fishes of the Western Ghats and the Satpura
hypothesis,” Current Science 81(3):240–244.
41.5 Nilgiris Conservation