CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has warned the Erode District Collector and other officials to remove the illegal resorts in Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) or appear in person on January 19.
A petition had been filed in the Madras High Court by R Karpagam, an environmental activist from Coimbatore, stating that several illegal resorts functioning in the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve without the approval of the National Board for Wildlife and the Hill Area Conservation Authority were causing severe environmental damage in the hill region.
Hearing the case earlier, the High Court had directed the government to remove the illegal resorts functioning inside the STR and to submit a report within four weeks on the implementation of the court's order.
When the case again came up for hearing before Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and G Arul Murugan, the state government informed the court that they had identified 42 illegal resorts in the Sathyamangalam area and that notices had been issued to seal them.
Interrupting, the judges said that, as per the Supreme Court's directions, illegal resorts must be removed. They observed that wildlife should not be disturbed for the sake of our entertainment and remarked that illegal resorts should be cleared at once.
Accepting the state government's request for more time to file a report on the action taken against the illegal resorts, the judges adjourned the hearing to January 19. They further warned that if the resorts were not removed by then, the Erode District Collector, forest officials, and other authorities concerned must appear in person before the court.