On Thursday, the Supreme Court ordered the Tamil Nadu government to close or seal down 11 resorts and hotels built illegally on the elephant corridor of Nilgiris within 48 hours, reported PTI.
The owners of other resorts and hotels located in the elephant corridor of Nilgiris were directed by the bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur and consisting of Justices Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta, to submit their documents of approval to the District Collector within 24 hours. If the collector concludes after verifying the documents that the hotels or resorts were constructed without prior approval, then those will also meet the same fate as these 11.
The bench called elephants as our “national heritage” and expressed disgruntlement on how the construction was carried out on the elephant corridor of Nilgiris.
The counsel representing the petitioner had earlier claimed that several hotels and resorts have been built in the elephant corridors of the state.
The bench had directed the collector of Nilgiris to file a report regarding the illegal constructions done in the area and has ordered that no more construction would be allowed in the elephant corridors.
The apex court had asked the Centre to come up with “workable solutions” and build more elephant corridors in the country to avoid any animal casualty due to accidents.
The Centre had apprised the SC that there were 27 “critical” elephant corridors in 22 states, but 13 states had not contacted the government on the issue despite the orders from the top court, reported PTI.