TENKASI: Stating that the public works and forest departments failed to take action upon his complaint alleging violations by the shooting unit of upcoming Dhanush-starrer 'Captain Miller', MDMK Keezhapavur union councillor Rama Udayasuriyan said he would move the court against the officials. Udayasuriyan said the movie unit had illegally constructed a wooden bridge across Chenkulam canal, damaged its banks, and was disturbing the wildlife in the buffer zone of Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) near Mathalamparai village.
"My repeated petitions to the PWD and forest officials on this issue went in vain. The film crew reduced the height of Chenkulam canal bank from about 8 ft to 2 ft near their shooting spot and used the soil taken from the banks to level a parcel of private land. They also illegally constructed a bridge across the canal. PWD officials and I found this violation when we were inspecting the canal which brings water from Old Courtallam Falls to around 15 tanks. The officials who initially asked the movie unit to remove the bridge and repair the canal banks have now turned a mute spectator, citing pressure from higher officials as the reason," he alleged.
The councillor further claimed the movie unit constructed a mega set in the KMTR's buffer zone without permission. "Apart from using high beam lights and lighting fires, the crew is shooting fight scenes involving bomb blasts in the sensitive region. A video of one such scene was leaked on social media recently. Though the shooting started in January in the area, the forest department has not taken any action so far. Hence I will be approaching the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court soon," he added.
When contacted by TNIE, PWD Assistant Executive Engineer Subramania Pandian said that though he had instructed the movie unit to remove the wooden bridge and repair the canal banks, the film crew was not obeying his instructions. Karuna Moorthy, Kadayam Forest Range Officer said his department was keeping an eye on the activities of the shooting unit.
"About five forest ranger-level officers have inspected the film set so far. Since the film set is a temporary infrastructure, the forest department could not take any action. After we received information about the shooting of the bomb blast scene, I personally inspected the set. However, we could not find a proper reason to take action against the unit. They used dummy bullets which created less noise, when I was there," he said.
Moorthy further said the film set is about 1.5 km away from the reserve forest in Mathalamparai. Bala, one of the authorities of the unit, was present at the film set when TNIE visited the spot. He said the PWD officials were keeping their application for shooting permission pending. He also refuted the allegation that the movie unit damaged the canal banks and disturbed wildlife. "We need not get permission from the forest department as we are shooting the film on private land," he added. Minister for Forests M Mathiventhan and Additional Chief Secretary Environment Climate Change and Forests Supriya Sahu could not be reached over the phone for comments.