Collector inspects sealed resorts along notified elephant corridor marked for demolition in the Nilgiris

The Nilgiris District Collector, Lakshmi Bhavya Tanneeru, recently inspected illegal resorts that were sealed along the notified elephant corridor in Sigur.

The Collector, acting on the orders of the Segur Plateau Elephant Corridor Inquiry Committee (SPECIC) formed by the Supreme Court, served demolition notices to more than 35 properties three months ago. However, despite orders being issued, demolition was yet to begin as a few of the resort owners had approached the High Court recently challenging the orders passed by the committee.

Ms. Tanneeru, told The Hindu that she inspected the sealed resorts to understand the topography, and the issues surrounding the elephant corridor for her own understanding. She said the resorts she had visited were all sealed, as per the orders of the district administration. There was no stay order that impeded efforts to demolish the properties. However, the government had sought a legal opinion with regard to the demolition as some of the resort owners had also approached the Supreme Court challenging the orders of the SPECIC.

Sources in the district administration said that most of the properties that were sealed for more than five years - since the Supreme Court ordered the government to shut down the illegal resorts operating within the Sigur elephant corridor, were in a state of dilapidation.

A few of the owners are also said to have expressed their willingness to take down and dismantle their properties by themselves, officials added.

Published - December 15, 2024 08:11 pm IST