27 resorts built illegally in Nilgiris elephant corridor sealed

The sealing drive comes, following an order by the Supreme Court to lock down or seal resorts obstructing the elephant migratory pathway. Resorts operating in the buffer zone of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) were sealed by the special teams from the revenue department amidst resistance from resort owners.

The resort owners broke into a heated argument with the government officials against sealing their property at Bokkapuram. Thereafter, the sealing drive was taken up by three teams of revenue department officials in the presence of police in Mavanallah, Bokkapuram, Singara and Vazhaithottam areas.

Closure notices were served to the 27 resort owners asking them to vacate the premises by Sunday morning. Besides serving notices, another 12 resort owners have been asked to submit their approval documents to allow their functioning.

Of them, the Nilgiris district Collector Innocent Divya said that 11 resorts have submitted documents for perusal. “Those documents will be examined to check their authenticity and to know if they have valid permission to operate. Further action would be taken once the verification process gets over in a couple of days,” she said.  

The Supreme Court directed the 12 resort management to submit valid documents needed for their functioning within 48 hours to the district administration.  

A report submitted by Nilgiris district administration to the court has also identified that 390 houses, 27 public buildings, 9 estates, 77 farmlands to be located on the elephant corridor in Masinagudi. However, the Supreme Court hasn’t given any ruling on the residential houses located on the elephant corridor.

The court direction comes following a Public Interest Litigation praying for a curb down on illegal structures in the wake to frequent man-animal conflicts.