Last Updated: 27.10.25

In its 1998 order in response to BEAG’s 1997 writ petition (WP 2754/1997), the High Court had directed the Mahabaleshwar Municipal Council and the Panchgani Municipal Council to ensure that no further construction would take place at the scenic Wilson Point in Mahabaleshwar and Sydney Point and Tableland in Panchgani.

However, despite the Court order, and under the garb of meeting the needs of tourists, various amusement activities had mushroomed on the Panchgani Tableland and motor vehicles were being freely driven across the entire area.

Amusement activities on Panchgani tableland. Credit: BEAG Archive

In 2002, BEAG once again filed a  writ petition (WP 7308/2002 / PIL 39/2003) against the violations.

On June 11, 2004, the High Court Monitoring Committee (HCMC) finalized what came to be known as the HCMC plan for the preservation of the Panchgani Tableland after consulting with  various stakeholders, including horse owners and horse cart owners.

The High Court on October 19, 2006, accepting the HLMC plan, passed its final judgment and order, permitting  20 acres on the southern portion of the main tableland to be used for horses, horse carts, parking and an interpretation centre, and reserving the rest of the tableland — 80 acres — for conservation and walkers only.

But in 2008, BEAG was forced to again file a contempt petition when it became clear that the High Court orders were being flagrantly and constantly violated, causing extreme damage to the fragile Tableland.

In 2012, a tragic horse-cart accident occurred on the Tableland that resulted in the death of a young girl and a horse. It was only after this accident that the municipal authorities finally took action to prevent horses and horse carts from plying on the Tableland. Press clippings

On May 4, 2012, after the High Court Order passed in response to BEAG’s 2008 contempt petition, the petitioners and respondents jointly visited the Tableland with a noted ecology expert, provided under the aegis of the Court, as well as animal welfare activists to study the effects of the plying of horses and horse carts on the Tableland.

Soon after, noted biome conservation expert Dr. Watve began a detailed year-long survey of the Tableland. In the survey report submitted to the Court, Dr Watve stated that the use of horse carts was not only preventing vegetation recovery of the Tableland but was further endangering its fragile ecology and biodiversity. The study concluded that only horse riding could be permitted.

The Panchgani Municipal Council also filed a brief report, based on the findings of botanist Dr. Salunke from a single day’s visit, but it too acknowledged that the Tableland had a unique and biodiverse vegetation that was being endangered and there was little possibility that vegetation in some areas, including the horse tracks, could ever recover.

On February 22, 2013, the Tableland Association filed a civil application (Civil Application No. 109 of 2013).

However, the civil application’s plea to ply horse carts on the main Tableland was dismissed on October 8, 2013, by the Bombay High Court, after taking into consideration the reports submitted by the Court-appointed ecologist Dr. Aparna Watve and an ecologist appointed by the Panchgani Hill Station Municipal Council, Dr. Chandrakant Salunke. But the Court noted that keeping in mind the interest of the horses and the horse cart owners, only horses would be permitted on  an earmarked track on the main Tableland.