Work at illegal resort construction site around Avalanche Dam halted

The Tamil Nadu Forest department has stopped work on several illegal resort buildings being constructed around Avalanche Lake in the Nilgiris.

Forest department officials said that structures built around the lake are an eyesore that may not only spoil the landscape but also disrupt the habitat proximity of wildlife passing through the area.

“The owners of the facility had applied for permission for housing construction from the local panchayat in 2016, and this permission had expired. However, when completed, they started the construction of the buildings to be used for tourism purposes without obtaining permission from any ministry,” an official said. The owners had also applied to the State Tourism Department for approval.

So far only elevated platforms have been constructed on which buildings will be built. Environmentalists demanded that these places be demolished as soon as possible.

Divisional Forest Officer (Nilgiris) S. Gowtham said: Hindu: “We did not give any permits for the construction and therefore our staff inspected the construction site and stopped the work due to the lack of necessary permits.”

A conservationist from the Nilgiris, who requested anonymity, said it should be mandatory for local panchayats not to issue construction permission for any building at least 500 meters from the edge of a reserved forest boundary, and Environment Sensitive Zones around ecologically sensitive areas such as Avalanche should also be notified for regulation of tourism and commercial activities.

“Although not within the core area of ​​Avalanche Dam, such structures, no matter how small, will impede the movement of wildlife in the area and affect their available pathways to navigate around the body of water. An animal does not understand forest boundaries and what is private property, so these areas should be kept as free of obstructions as possible,” he said, adding that such resorts pose a more direct threat to wildlife.

“These locations, especially those overlooking waterholes, can be used by poachers to comb the area for wildlife, and even greater caution should be exercised around the Avalanche area as tiger poaching has been known to occur in the recent past,” he said.