Context: The Supreme Court on January 27 appointed conservationist Nandita Hazarika as Member of a Technical Committee constituted by it on October 14 last year.

• The top court upheld the Tamil Nadu government’s authority to notify an ‘elephant corridor’ and protect the migratory path of the animals through the Nilgiri biosphere reserve.
• The reserve is the largest protected forest area in India, spanning across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.
• A three-judge Bench said it was the State’s duty to protect a “keystone species” such as elephants, immensely important to the environment.

Sigur plateau

• The corridor is situated in the ecologically fragile Sigur plateau, which connects the Western and the Eastern Ghats and sustains elephant populations and their genetic diversity.
• It has the Nilgiri Hills on its southwestern side and the Moyar River Valley on its north-eastern side.
• The elephants cross the plateau in search of food and water.
• Sigur Plateau (Segur Plateau) is a plateau in the north and east of Nilgiri District in the Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu, South India.
• The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, which includes Sigur Plateau and the Nilgiri Hills, is part of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/conservationist-joins-sc-panel-on-elephant-corridor-case/article33678554.ece

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