Stalin opens 'Mahout Village' at Theppakadu elephant camp

Udhagamandalam: Chief minister M K Stalin inaugurated ‘Mahout Village', a cluster of 44 eco-friendly houses constructed at a cost of Rs5.06 crore for mahouts and cavadies, at Theppakadu elephant camp in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in the Nilgiris on Wednesday evening. He handed over the house keys to the mahouts and inspected one of the new houses in the village.

Stalin also flagged off 32 new vehicles, which were bought at a cost of Rs2.93 crore, for the forest range officers across the state.

At the elephant camp, the chief minister had a look at the food that was kept ready for the elephants. He then watched the elephants being fed by their mahouts. Stalin also enjoyed feeding sugarcane to Bama, the oldest elephant at the camp.

Stalin interacted with 44 mahouts and cavadies at the camp and took a group photo with them.

Supriya Sahu, additional chief secretary, department of environment, climate change and forest, said, "The new houses are eco-friendly and in harmony with local building traditions."

M Maran, a mahout, said, "We are happy to have the houses with all the basic facilities. The advantage is the houses are located close to the camp. This gesture of the govt motivates us to further indulge ourselves with the camp elephants for the betterment of the camp."

Kozhikamuthi elephant camp in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve houses another 47 greenhouses for the mahouts and cavadies. Those were built at a cost of Rs4.04 crore. This housing project for the caretakers of camp elephants was announced by Stalin in March 2023 during a ceremony to felicitate the mahout couple Bomman and Bellie, who featured in the Oscar-winning short film ‘The Elephant Whisperers'. All the elephant caretakers belong to tribal communities.

Stalin also inaugurated a newly installed aerial bunch cable, a first of its kind in Tamil Nadu, between Thorapalli and Theppakadu for a distance of 15km, to safeguard the wildlife from bare wire connections in the forest area.

Stalin was greeted by the public, including children, at various places on his way to Theppakadu from Ooty.