CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has refused to lift the temporary stay on operating boating services for tourists on Pykara Lake in the Nilgiris district despite the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) pointing to an approaching peak summer season and it already having incurred a loss of Rs 40 lakh.
A special bench of Justices N Sathish Kumar and D Bharatha Chakravarthy said it would consider the TTDC’s request only after perusing the test reports of soil and water samples collected from the lake.
“When the samples are already collected and laboratory test reports are awaited, permission cannot be granted,” the bench said on Friday.
Noting that the interim injunction against boating services is temporary in nature, pending further studies, the bench said it will consider lifting the ban once the reports are placed in the court.
The special bench had issued the interim stay on March 13, after its order to engage experts from the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History and the ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil & Water Conservation (ICAR-IISWC), Research Centre, Ooty, for holding a study on the contamination of water and other issues was not complied with.
Senior counsel P Wilson, representing the TTDC, submitted that the corporation has initiated the process for operating electric motor boats, but added that it has been affected by the war in West Asia as certain components could not be supplied. The supplier has promised to send the components in June this year, he added.
Noting that the summer season is peaking and the corporation already having incurred a loss of Rs 40 lakh, he expressed apprehension that Pykara will lose tourists.
The bench, however, said, “Kindly lose tourists; gain nature lovers.”
The senior counsel further submitted that experts from the ICAR-IISWC, Research Centre, collected samples from the lake on March 23 and sent them to the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) for analysis.
Heeding to the counsel’s request, the court permitted the Advanced Institute for Wildlife Conservation, Vandalur, to undertake the study instead of the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History.