The Madras High Court has directed authorities to examine the records of all resorts allegedly operating illegally along an elephant corridor in the Anaikatti forest region of Coimbatore district.
The direction came on a petition filed by social activist Muralidharan, who alleged that resorts were being run in dense forest areas on the elephant movement path without statutory permissions. The court had earlier instructed officials to close resorts functioning without proper approvals.
According to the district administration, action has been initiated to shut 10 resorts in the first phase. Coimbatore Collector Pavan Kumar has asked a team led by the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) to monitor whether any resort continues operations in violation of the warning, amid complaints that online bookings are still being accepted at some properties.
In the detailed order uploaded online, a bench of Justices Satish Kumar and Rajasekar said resorts seeking to be impleaded must submit all relevant documents to the competent authorities. If valid licences and permissions are found, they may be allowed to operate; otherwise, the resorts or establishments must be closed immediately.
The court also said that if any document has been issued by an unauthorised or incompetent official, it should not be relied upon to permit resort operations or any other commercial activity. An additional affidavit stated that 33 resorts are functioning in the area, and the court directed a fresh inspection and verification of records of all resorts. The matter will be heard again on October 8.
