BENGALURU: Even as another commercial resort built within the Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary gets ready for inauguration, the state forest department sleeps on its own inquiry report highlighting the illegalities of allowing such projects in the name of eco-tourism. The inquiry report submitted by a senior forest officer has been gathering dust for the last 18 months.
Meanwhile, the State Forest Secretariat has sought the report from the forest department not once but twice by writing letters in May and August this year in view of the complaints by wildlife activists.
Speaking to Express, T M Vijay Bhaskar, Additional Chief Secretary, Forests, Ecology & Environment, said he will look into the issue after getting the report.
Wildlife activists say this is just the tip of the iceberg as six to eight more resorts and homestays have come up silently in the Castlerock region in the last five years, which is now part of Dandeli wildlife sanctuary.
With conservationists filing a complaint against the construction of the Trinity Jungle Resort (in Feb 2013) in the Castelrock area of Dandeli and Anshi Tiger Reserve (DATR), the Additional PCCF, Evaluation,
Working Plan, Research and Training visited the disputed resort owned by Jaytoyah Investments & Holidays Ltd, Mumbai, and filed his inspection report on 27.3.2015.
In this report, additional PCCF K N Murthy stated that the resort owners had completely used the site area for building 15 suites at an investment of `3 crore. He stated, “Going by the way it is being constructed, the clients are likely to use up the forest areas even if permission from forest department does not come through. It is likely to impact the surrounding forest areas.”
Need for joint survey
The report further draws attention to three issues regarding this illegal resort — “It appears there is more land area under the resort than they actually own. A detailed joint survey should be done to check if there is any encroachment. Sketch issued by RFO of Tinnaighat to the party does not seem to be correct. The ownership claims made by the resort owner needs to be verified properly. All original deeds need to be examined carefully as the owners produced only photo copies of the site documents.”
Lastly, Murthy draws attention to the mushrooming of resorts and stresses, “There are quite a few private resorts and homestays on either side of Goa Road but well within DATR. All are claiming to have been established before the area was handed over to DATR. Considering their location on a highway connecting to Goa, these resorts are likely to seriously impact the local forest areas and fauna. A considered view may be taken whether these resorts can be allowed inside DATR as per the prevailing eco-tourism policy and wildlife regulations.”
The resort management said they had got permission from the gram panchayat and other agencies concerned and no illegalities were committed.
Wildlife activist Sharat G laments that despite the Castlerock region becoming part of a protected area in 2011, the resort owners were happily allowed to build the resort with only the gram panchayat’s permission.
Activists say that after 2011, six to eight resorts and homestays have come up inside the wildlife sanctuary with the authorities keeping mum.
Sharat says, “The Akheti gram panchayat has no business to give permission as it does not come under their purview. The report was not even sent to the additional chief secretary for future course of action.”
“This is the state of affairs where people are gobbling up PA lands in the name of eco-tourism,” he added.
