Wayanad twin tunnel work starts, but bird monitoring lags

Kozhikode: Even as chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan is scheduled to carry out the first blast to mark the start of tunnelling for Anakkampoyil-Meppadi tunnel road on Friday, authorities have not started monitoring the small population of the endemic, endangered bird Banasura Chilappan that inhabits the sky islands above the tunnel alignment. This comes seven months after the CM inaugurated the project's construction in Aug 2025 and other key environmental safeguards remain pending.Monitoring the bird population had been a key condition set by the ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) when it granted environmental clearance in May 2025. The expert appraisal committee (EAC), under the ministry, had directed authorities to conduct a detailed study on Chilappan, including the species' genetic vulnerability due to disturbances caused by the 8.7km tunnel.The ministry had suggested specialized institutions such as Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), a research institute functioning under MoEFCC, could monitor the situation. The commission order for the monitoring exercise had to be submitted to the integrated regional office of the ministry along with the project's first six-monthly compliance report. Subsequent progress reports on the monitoring had also to be submitted as part of periodic compliance filings.Sources said authorities had approached SACON and the institute had submitted a proposal in this regard, but monitoring had not commenced.Also, EAC had directed the establishment of Appankappu Elephant Corridor, preferably by directly acquiring six plots of 3.05ha, to facilitate the movement of elephants from Camel Hump mountains towards Nilambur South Division, Karimpuzha Sanctuary and Silent Valley National Park. The govt was not able to acquire land because landowners demanded high prices. Forest department had sent a report to the land acquisition tahsildar.Wayanad Prakrithi Samrakshana Samiti president N Badusha said state govt had spent time and resources on multiple inaugurations of the same project while failing to implement basic environmental safeguards mandated by MoEFCC. "They should have put in place a monitoring mechanism for Chilappan before beginning blasting and tunnelling activities so that any ecological disturbance could be assessed," he said.Banasura Chilappan is found mostly on two high-altitude peaks in Wayanad, including the mountainous terrain through which the proposed tunnel alignment passes. The species, with a population of fewer than 1,000 birds, is confined to the shola forests on the two highest peaks of Wayanad – the Camel's Hump range, including Chembra peak and the Banasura mountains – with the total habitat extending to just 50 sq km.Conservationists have called for creating a special protected area covering the shola forests and adjoining grasslands in the high-altitude montane habitat to save these birds from extinction.