Conservationists demand halting of Ooty station development that is destroying wetland

14 conservation groups in Nilgiris demand Southern Railways halt destruction of wetland adjoining Ooty lake. Wetland acts as flood barrier, hosts endemic species, endangered Toda buffalos. UNESCO heritage site guidelines require impact studies. Construction of staff training centre abandoned due to wetland soil. Activists urge railways to restore wetland to prior state.

As many as 14 conservation groups and citizens’ collectives in the Nilgiris have come together to demand the Southern Railways to stop destroying a wetland adjoining the Ooty lake, as the railways looks to renovate and develop Udhagamandalam Railway Station.

The 14 groups, which include Namma Nilgiris, The Make Ooty Beautiful Project, Nature Environment Cultural and Service Trust (NEST), Upstream Ecology, Ooty Public Awareness Association, Tamil Nadu Green Movement, among others, have highlighted how the wetland acts as a flood barrier for the town, soaking up excessive rainfall which then gets diverted into the Ooty lake, and preventing flooding of the town.

“It is a known fact that the road below the railway bridge leading to the boat house and situated right next to the railway station already gets heavily flooded during rains… If the planned development is not stopped and the marsh is allowed to be concretized, the resultant flooding will fallout to the main arterial roads of Ooty town,” they said in a letter addressed to the district Collector, Conservator of Forests (Nilgiris), District Forest Officer and the Salem Division of Southern Railways.

The marsh also hosts a number of endemic species of plants and animals, while birds as well as mammals are frequently spotted in the area, state conservationists. The endangered Toda buffalos also use the marshland to graze.

The activists state that UNESCO heritage site convention Operation Guidelines, which will be applicable as the Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) is a certified world heritage site by UNESCO, stipulates that impact studies need to be conducted for review by its advisory body before undertaking any activity at the station. However, a 2022 “State of Conservation” report has misrepresented the nature of the work, with the current development razing the marsh adjoining the railway station.

Conservationists point to the already-abandoned construction of the staff training centre at the railway station, which was let go due to the wetland soil being unable to hold the weight of the construction, rendering any construction pointless in the long-run.