Closure notice to 27 resorts on jumbo corridor

Closure notices were served to resorts located in Bokkapuram, Masinagudi, Hullathy, Singara, Vazhaithottam and its surrounding areas.

Four teams of revenue department officials, who were brought in to crack down on the illegal structures visited the resorts and served them the closure notices.

The officials handed over the closure notice to owners of the resort and for those which were closed, the notice was pasted on the doors. In the notice, the owners were directed to vacate the illegal building in their possession by Saturday. The buildings would be sealed after 48 hours, the notice further read.

Nilgiris District Collector Innocent Divya said that notices were served to 27 private resorts as per the direction of the Supreme Court.

“Another 12 resort owners have been asked to submit their approval documents if they want to continue functioning. After the verification, if they were found to be running without valid approvals, they would also face closure. Two months’ notice period has been given to houses and other structures located on the elephant corridor. However, the apex court has not given any ruling on removing the residential structures,” she said to the media.   

A report submitted by Nilgiris district administration to the court has identified 390 houses, 27 public buildings, nine estates and 77 farmlands to be located on the elephant corridor in Masinagudi. The crackdown on resorts has triggered fears of eviction in over 500 people who have settled in the area for many years now.

Meanwhile, in a statement, the Nilgiri Documentation Centre (NDC) said that illegal resorts that have mushroomed without proper approvals should be clamped down in the upper plateau of Nilgiris as well.

“Modifications should be made to the master plan and panchayat rules to mark ‘resort zones’ in the district. This would help in preventing exploitation of the forest areas and also in preserving the tribal villages,” said Dharmalingam Venugopal, the honorary director of the NDC.

The crackdown on the illegal structures is the result of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) alleging that several hotels and resorts that have come up in the elephant corridor in these areas of Tamil Nadu.