Coimbatore: The Chennai High Court on Wednesday imposed a ban on the construction of a housing unit by the Slum Clearance Board on a reported wildlife corridor near the Western Ghats near Alandurai in Coimbatore.
Coimbatore: The Chennai High Court on Wednesday imposed a ban on the construction of a housing unit by the Slum Clearance Board on a reported wildlife corridor near the Western Ghats near Alandurai in Coimbatore.
The order had come a few days after the Coimbatore Forest Department had responded to a PIL claiming that they would not be responsible for loss of life or property in the area, despite the clearance.
“There are chances for negative interactions which could have dangerous outcomes, including injuries and fatalities since the area falls in the elephant-moving zone,” stated the Forest Department in its petition to the Court earlier.
Based on the petition, the Bench of S Manikumar and Subramaniam Prasath had banned construction work. The issue came to light when V Loganathan from the Vellingiri Malaivaazh Makkal Paadhukaappu Iyakkam moved a PIL in the Chennai Court about the construction. While the initial petition claimed the area to be a zone with wildlife movement, activists claimed that a water body was being covered up because of the construction.