Bengaluru: The Health resort project at Kudremukh on the land formerly leased to Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited was shot down by the Additional Chief Secretary (Forest, Ecology and Environment), stating that the project fell under an Eco-Sensitive Zone. The order followed a direction by the High Court after environmental group, Wildlife First, filed a petition against the resort project in a wildlife area.
The ACS also came down heavily on the Chikkamagalur Deputy Commissioner for exhibiting utter carelessness in protecting government property and on KIOCL for not getting prior Environment clearance before allowing the resort to start.
After closure of mining activities in 2005 as per a Supreme Court order, KIOCL had retained the Sahyadri Bhavan Guest House (SBGH) and other establishments within the Kudremukh township area.
In 2014, KIOCL floated tenders, inviting Expression of Interest to run the guesthouse along with 30 D type quarters. On April 23, 2015, the contract was given to Alva Health Centre for starting the Health Resort in the region. When KIOCL approached Kudremukh Notified Area Committee (NAC) for a no objection certificate(NOC), the NAC stated that the company permission to run SBGH itself had expired and by continuing operations, it would be violating the Supreme Court order. Meanwhile, Chikkamagalur DC also filed a suit against the project in the JFMC court. However, the suit was dismissed due to non-prosecution.
Following a petition by Wildlife First, Karnataka High Court directed the ACS to look into the issue. While allowing the petition, the ACS directed the Chief Wildlife Warden to initiate action against KIOCL, as no permission has been obtained from the authorities.
The order also noted that KIOCL had not initiated action to close down operations of the commercial resort, thus violating guidelines of MoEF as well as the order of Supreme Court.
