KOZHIKODE: Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan has come out against a major theme park project at Makkiyad in Wayanad saying that the park, against which the Wayanad district administration had issued a stop memo, used his name in the inauguration notice without his consent.
The E3 theme park, scheduled to be inaugurated by Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan in the presence of Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan and Union Minister of State for Defence Dr Subhash Bhamre as chief guest on Sunday, has run into rough weather after Wayanad district administration issued the stop memo.
Wayanad District Collector B S Thirumeni had issued the memo citing that the park violated the Land Utilisation Act, 1967, and Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008. The theme park was set up on 32 acres of land at a cost of Rs 52 crore. It was alleged that the company had converted wetland and paddy fields for construction purposes inside the park.
Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan told ‘Express’ he did not know on what grounds the park authorities mentioned his name in the inaugural notice because he had not agreed to attend it. “When they approached me, I specifically told that I would be able to confirm my presence for the function only after verifying the details of the project. Anyway, I will not be attending the function,” he said.
However, Park’s Chief Officer Col Nisar A Seethi said there were certain issues with regard to getting certain clearances and the park would do the needful for it. “We will sort out all the issues and go ahead with the scheduled inauguration,” he said.