For the first time in the history of the State, a tribal chieftain has approached the Kerala High Court to protect the reserve forests around tribal hamlets. The chieftain of the Kurumba tribe of Attappady, Mudda Mooppan, has filed the petition seeking to stop the felling of teak in 500 acres of a plantation raised by the Forest Department in the Anavai area on the banks of the Bhavani river, the core area of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. The Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha (AGM) leader, C.K. Janu, has promised support to the 110-year-old Mudda Mooppan in his fight