Supreme Court orders closure of 27 resorts in elephant corridors in Tamil Nadu

Pic for representation/AFP

Clamping down on resorts operating without approval in elephant corridor of Nilgiris area, the Supreme Court today asked the Tamil Nadu government to seal or close down within 48 hours 27 such commercial establishments.

A bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur directed the owners of the other resorts and hotels located in the area to place their documents of approval before the collector within 24 hours. The apex court said the collector will verify the documents and if he arrives at the conclusion that a resort or hotel has been constructed without prior approval, the same should also be closed down within 48 hours.

The bench, also comprising justices S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta, said elephants were our "national heritage" and expressed displeasure as to how constructions had come up on the elephant corridor.

During an earlier hearing, one of the counsels for the petitioners had alleged that several hotels had come up in the elephant corridor areas of Tamil Nadu. The bench had made it clear that no construction activity would be carried out in those areas and asked the collector of the Nilgiris area to file a report in this regard. It had also asked the collector to inform the court as to how these establishments could be identified, when were they built and how.

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