Nilgiris citizen activist petitions Collector, urges demolition of illegal government buildings

Citizen rights activists from the Nilgiris have submitted a petition to the District Collector, urging her to demolish illegally constructed government buildings in the district, which contravene the Hill Area Conservation Authority (HACA) rules.

Shobana Chandrashekar, one of the founders of the citizens initiatives, Namma Nilgiris and the Make Ooty Beautiful (MOB) Project, submitted the petition to Collector, M. Aruna, during the weekly grievance day redressal meeting held at the Collectorate in Udhagamandalam on Monday, October 16, 2023.

Ms. Chandrashekar highlighted the construction of an observation deck by the Udhagamandalam Municipality overlooking the Ketti Valley without obtaining clearances from the HACA or the Architectural and Aesthetics Aspects (AAA) Committee. “This goes against building rules that were created to ensure sustainable development [of the district]”, Ms. Chandrashekar said in her petition.

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She also highlighted the fact that the observation deck was being constructed in a landslip-prone area and also at the entrance to the town, along a very narrow section of road, which is prone to traffic jams, potentially increasing the likelihood of even more traffic jams occurring due to inadequate parking space for visitors.

The Collector was urged to stop the construction of the building and to order its demolition.

In recent years, the Udhagamandalam Municipality as well as the T.N. Tourism Department has drawn flack from activists after commencing the construction of buildings for tourism-related purposes even before sanction from the HACA Committee was granted.

Along the periphery of the Ooty lake for instance, the Tourism Department has begun constructing a zipline and rope bridge, potentially disturbing the habitats of hundreds of birds that inhabit the lake. The construction was started without HACA clearances, while roads built or expanded by the State and national highways departments have also come in for criticism for severing habitat connectivity for wildlife, including elephants.