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“In the last 45 years, I lived here in perfect harmony with the forests and never engaged in forest resource plundering. For more than a year, Valliyamma’s hut has been marked illegal, and a board carrying the word ‘sealed’ is hanging on the walls. Revenue and forest authorities have found her hut and the agricultural land as encroachments in the proposed Sigur Elephant Corridor, the lone connection link between Western and Eastern Ghats’ forests. Valliyamma, who ekes out a living by planting vegetables, paddy, sugarcane, watermelon, and millets on her land and one-acre additional leased government land, is now facing a peculiar problem. A widow hailing from the backward Adi Dravidar community, she lives along with her 15-year-old granddaughter (the only surviving close relative) in a small hut located inside two acres and 16 cents (2.16 acres) farmland legally bought by her late husband 45 years ago, after verifying all the revenue and ownership documents. In her late sixties, Valliyamma Murugan, who lives close to the ancient Mariamman Temple at Bokkapuram forest village near Masinagudi in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu, has reasons to believe that her gods have stopped smiling. The corridor links different habitats and is thus critical for maintaining a viable elephant population in the region. With Nilgiris, the triangular mountain block, forming the link between the Western and the Eastern Ghats, the elephant migration corridors become ecologically very important. The dispute, which has gone through years of litigation in the courts, got intense after the area to be acquired for the corridor was expanded, displacing those whose lives and livelihoods depended on the lands that were being earmarked for the animals. The recent conflict between the owners of a homestay and a male elephant in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu, that led to the death of the elephant, has again brought into focus the tussle over land that is being earmarked for elephant movement in the area. A number of homestays and resorts in the region are also facing closure, the owners of which state that they have government-approved land title deeds, and they have never encroached on the forests and caused any disturbance to wildlife. The corridor which causes displacement of over 12,000 people is facing stiff resistance from rights activists and agencies supporting indigenous communities as the project lack provisions for co-existence and community-based forest management. The Sigur Elephant Corridor, the only one of its kind connecting Western and the Eastern Ghats and facilitating easy movement of about 6,300 Asiatic elephants from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka, is set to be implemented in Nilgiri district of Tamil Nadu following a favorable Supreme Court verdict. Around the estate some of the interesting places are the Dubare Elephant Camp where elephants can be bathed and fed or taken on a ride, Abey Falls, Nagarahole Wildlife Sanctuary and the Tibetan Monastery in one of the largest Tibetan settlements in the country.An elephant corridor raises conflict in the Nilgiris An open kitchen alongside the house also permits guests to try their hand at cooking and share it with the rest. Breakfast and dinner are served in a gazebo outside the main house where the family joins the guests over food and conversations. Nimi personally prepares Coorgi cuisine for the guests and at times also dishes out Sri Lankan, Arabic and Thai specialties.

The rooms are well furnished and fitted with modern amenities.

The Elephant Corridor, Coorg has five newly built rooms around the main house where the hosts share the space with guests for an interactive stay. In a 150 year old heritage home cocooned in 20 acres of coffee estate, the bean story is delightfully told by hosts Nimi and Viju in addition to putting together a warm holiday.