Sathyamangalam: The Madras High Court has ordered the immediate closure of 87 illegal resorts operating in the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in Erode district and said steps should be taken for the demolition of the buildings. "We are of the view that action has to be taken to immediately close down all the illegal buildings. Further action has to be taken for demolition of those buildings also," the court said, LiveLaw reported.

Source: LiveLaw

A Division Bench of Justice N. Sathish Kumar and Justice G.K. Muthukumar passed the directions while hearing a pending petition on illegal resorts in the tiger reserve, after a status report filed by the Erode District Collector stated that altogether 87 resort establishments operate in the area and that none of them had obtained planning permission or building approval from the Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP). The report also recorded that there is no record of Hill Area Conservation Authority (HACA) permission for conversion of land use from residential to commercial activities.

Source: LiveLaw

The case, Dr. R. Karpagam v. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden (W.P. No. 13711 of 2022), was argued for the petitioner by counsel S.P. Chockalingam. The petitioner, founder of the Coimbatore-based Oli Vizhippunavavu Iyakkam, has alleged that unauthorised lodges in the reserve are damaging the mountain ecosystem, UrbanAcres reported.

Source: UrbanAcres

When the court was informed that some resorts were still operating through the back door even after previous closure orders, it directed the authorities to identify the resorts without valid licence and permission and to lock and seal them in accordance with law.

Source: LiveLaw

The Bench also noted that two resorts had obtained interim orders against closure from another bench while not disclosing that this Bench was already dealing with the illegal-resorts matters, and remarked that they had not approached the court with clean hands. It directed the Registry to place those two petitions before the same Bench to avoid conflicting orders. The matter has been listed for November 27, by which date the authorities are to file a status report on the action taken, India Legal Live reported.

Source: India Legal Live