Yedapalli in Coonoor now features large, palatial houses perched on a high canopy of silver oak trees. Over the years, the once vast tea plantations on which these houses stood were sold in small parcels to buyers in several stages and later developed into real estate projects, which were readily purchased by people attracted by the allure of the Blue Mountains.
Local residents say they have seen many such properties around Coonoor – once a defining feature of the landscape – gradually giving way to buildings and residential layouts over the past two decades. “These buildings remain vacant for most of the year, serving as holiday homes, retreats and homestays only for the rich,” said N Muthu, a resident of Bandishola in Coonoor.
The Nilgiri district administration is worried about the speed with which tea gardens are being sold to builders. “The issue is that tea cultivation is no longer viable for many small and medium-sized estates in the Nilgiris, prompting owners to sell it in small parcels to builders, who then construct buildings without obtaining planning approval and later approach the district administration seeking regularization,” said a district official.
“The builders believe that the individuals who are able to buy these properties are influential and these groups try to put pressure on us to give approval after the construction is completed,” he said.
tea in crisis
H. Thyagaraja, president of the Young Badaga Association and a small tea grower, said climate change and the financial unviability of tea cultivation are forcing small and medium-sized estate owners to sell their properties. “The price of green tea leaves has remained almost unchanged since the late 1990s, while input costs have increased steadily. With yield reductions of about 50% in most properties due to climate change, a small estate owner can now expect to earn only ₹35,000 to ₹40,000 per acre, accounting for input and labor costs,” he explained.
He said this is prompting property owners and their heirs to sell land in the hills and move out of the Nilgiris. “The last 15 years have seen a distinct change. The persistently low prices of green tea leaves and climate change have certainly prompted property owners to sell land owned for generations. Unless immediate steps are taken in the form of minimum support price (MSP) and other measures, more properties will be sold and converted into bungalows and housing layouts,” he said.
illegal bungalows
The construction of large bungalows within estates, which once housed a limited number of people, is illegal in many cases.
Officials say most of these bungalows, which have sprung up in and around Coonoor as well as on the outskirts of Udhagamandalam, lack proper access roads and have been built without Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) approval and no objection certificates (NOC) from several departments, which are prerequisites to start construction.
However, local residents around these large estates question how the district administration failed to pay attention to such large projects as they were coming up. S., resident of Yedapalli, Coonoor. Harish said that in early 2016, following the death of four construction workers in an estate while working on a new building, these large projects should have come to the attention of the authorities. “Yet, it was clear that these buildings were being built not just in Yedapalli but across Coonoor,” he said.
Retired IAS officer and president of Confederation of Environmental Associations of Nilgiris (CEAN) Surjit K Choudhary said the property being converted for residential and commercial purposes was illegal. “Under the Tamil Nadu Land Reforms (Determination of Land Extent) Act…section 73(iv) the estate was granted exemption on the condition that the land be used only for tea cultivation. Any violation of this land-use condition should result in the government taking possession of the estate,” he said.
Mr Chaudhary also questioned how parcel land plots like Yedapalli were registered by sub-registrars without any objection. “Permissions are also given by the Architectural and Aesthetic Aspects (AAA) committee in the Collectorate. How did the committee fail to stop this?” Electricity connections and street lights have also been provided illegally in these layouts, he asked.
Ecological services of tea gardens
Conservationists argue that the conversion of these estates not only puts pressure on the Nilgiri infrastructure, but also deeply wounds the local ecology, hydrology and wildlife.
While the ecological functions of tea plantations are limited, conservationists argue that replacing these “green deserts” with concrete structures could have an even greater negative impact on the landscape.
Nilgiri-based conservationist N. “With tea gardens, there is still opportunity for restoration initiatives,” Mohanraj said. “For example, some properties like Thiashola maintain fragments of shoals within their grounds, providing habitat for wildlife and preserving ecological services. Others maintain grasslands and wetlands and actively engage in eco-restoration, supporting native wildlife and ecology.”
Mr Mohanraj said small properties also usually retain parts of shola forests for water replenishment and other ecosystem services, which in turn provide benefits to wildlife and local ecology.
Gokul Halan, a hydro-ecologist from the Nilgiris, said buyers of land in tea gardens often prefer hilly areas for aesthetic reasons. “The problem is that they are creating recharge areas where water collects, infiltrates into the ground, and groundwater recharges the aquifers,” he said. “This has a very negative impact on the hydrology and hydrogeology of the area,” he said.
Mr Halan explained that the layout within the estate is essentially fenced off, limiting the proximity of habitat for many species. “It is better to have a tea garden with limited ecological value than a fenced residential layout, as the estate allows at least some movement of wildlife and helps connect different habitats,” Mr Mohanraj said.
“Previously, communities never fenced their land. Property boundaries were maintained through mutual agreements between individuals. People who buy land here from outside often build fences immediately to secure their property. The lack of understanding of community land use and coexistence with wildlife is highly destructive to the local fauna,” Mr Halan said.
Mr. Mohanraj also pointed out that the Nilgiris serve as a catchment area for the downstream cities of Coimbatore, Tiruppur and Erode. He said, “If these cities are to continue to grow, it is necessary to protect the hills from further damage and stop the conversion of tea gardens. Otherwise, they will face problems caused by urbanization of the Nilgiris.”
government action
When contacted, Nilgiris district collector Lakshmi Bhavya Tanneru said most of the homeowners in these properties are non-Nilgiris residents who started settling here after retirement. “These buildings were sold to them with the promise that necessary permissions had been obtained. It is only after they buy them that they realize that the builders have misled them and then approach us for retrospective permissions, which we are denying,” he said.
Ms Tanniru said these layouts require clearance from the Hill Area Conservation Authority (HACA) and DTCP, along with several other permits for regularization and provision of open space reservation plots to the local panchayat. The Collector said that the district administration has written a letter to the state government seeking guidance regarding action.
He said the administration is using Google Earth and satellite imagery to monitor properties being converted into housing, allowing officials to intervene before construction begins.
High Court intervention
The real estate boom has also attracted the attention of the Madras High Court, which is hearing a complaint regarding illegal homestays and resorts in the Nilgiris.
Real estate agents in the Nilgiris say many of these illegal buildings have come up on sites that were once small tea gardens. “During the COVID-19 lockdown, many outsiders started buying these properties, anticipating that they would eventually move to the mountains. At the same time, financially distressed tea planters sold their land at throwaway prices,” said a real estate agent from Coonoor.
He said that over the years, people who bought these properties realized that they were lying unused and started renting them out as resorts and homestays, which has now drawn the ire of the High Court. “Due to the intervention of the High Court, approvals are not being given for these buildings,” he said.
Speaking to reporters, the Collector said that notices have been issued by the district administration to more than 900 potentially illegal buildings, both commercial and residential. Owners of these properties have been asked to provide documents to prove that they have obtained proper licenses and approvals before construction. He said that more than 75 illegal buildings have been sealed in the last few months, adding that teams have been formed at the local body level to inspect new constructions and monitor the sealed buildings to prevent any work from resuming.
The latest action came after the owners and contractors of a sealed building in Udhagamandalam resumed construction illegally despite the seal.
