CHENNAI: Days after holding an extravaganza attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Isha Foundation in Coimbatore is facing the heat after the State government informed the Madras High Court that the organisation had constructed buildings without obtaining mandatory permissions.
The court is hearing a PIL filed by Vellingiri Hill Tribal Protection Society, seeking demolition of the alleged unauthorised structures so as to restore the wet lands at Ikkarai Poluvampatti Vilage, Perur taluk in Coimbatore.
In the counter affidavit filed before the court on Wednesday, the Deputy Director of Town and Country Planning, Coimbatore Region, said the foundation had built structures spread across alarming plinth area without permission.
The counter confirmed that the villages come under the Hill Area Conservation Authority (HACA), adding that the Town and Country Planning authorities has directed Isha Foundation to submit the details on the purpose of establishing the Shiva statue (which Prime Minister Modi unveiled) and buildings alongside like mandapams, and plans to obtain permission from HACA.
The foundation was already served a lock and seal, and demolition notice on December 21, 2012, over these unauthorised construction, spread across 109 acres, to establish Isha Meditation Lingam Religious Workshop and its connected buildings.
The case will come up for hearing next week.