The 321.74 acres identified in Somayampalayam village for Tamil Nadu Tech City abuts a proposed elephant corridor, namely Mangarai - Thanikandi corridor, identified by the State government appointed Elephant Corridor Committee. It is one of the 42 elephant corridors identified by the committee which was tasked to reassess elephant corridors in Tamil Nadu.
The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden (PCCF & CWLW) had submitted the findings of the committee in a status report filed before the Madras High Court in a case related to elephant corridors (WP No: 27356 of 2019) in November 2023. However, these 42 elephant movement paths are yet to be notified as corridors by the State government.
Also, a study report, namely ‘Brief investigation and justification for notifying elephant movement paths as corridors in southern part of Coimbatore Forest Division’, prepared by K. Kalidasan of Osai environmental organisation in 2023 had also identified the proposed site for TN Tech City in Somayampalayam as an important elephant movement path falling under ‘Mangarai – Anuvavi – Marudhamalai - Thanikandi elephant movement path’. The report had proposed to declare it as Mangarai - Thanikandi elephant corridor.
