MADURAI: A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking direction to remove encroachments in the roads leading to Bryant Park within the Kodaikanal municipality, was transferred by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court to the forest bench at the Madras High Court recently.
According to litigant A Sadham Hussain of Nilakottai taluk in Dindigul, the tourism department changed the bus route in Kodaikanal by citing reasons such as solid waste management and eco-sensitive zones. It was also said that the decision would help reduce crowding and encroachments in tourist areas. However, no steps were taken to remove the encroachments despite requests from the public, Hussain alleged.
Also, the earlier one-way route from BSNL Office to Coakers Walk via Observatory Road was commonly used by locals and tourists. Following the change in routes, the newly assigned road was steep, difficult to navigate and caused severe traffic congestion, he further claimed. The conversion of the Coakers Walk to Green Valley Road into a two-lane road also created heavy traffic jams, leading to a risk of tourists getting stuck in the forest area until night hours, Hussain added.
He wanted a direction to the authorities to remove the encroachments in the Bryant Park roads and to restore original road routes in the municipality. A bench comprising Justices RMT Teekaa Raman and N Senthilkumar referred the matter to the forest bench.