The impact of rapid change in the Nilgiris

Unsustainable development is creating major environmental and social problems in the Nilgiris

The first thing I noticed on my first trip to the Nilgiris since 2009 was how wide the roads uphill from Metupalayam were. Successive governments here have been felling trees and cutting hills to expand the road width. This is apparently being done to manage the mad rush that accompanies the tourist season (April-June) when busloads of group tourists e…