Wayanad: Film director Sathyan Anthikkad on Sunday inaugurated “E3 Theme Park” of Western Ghats Green Initiative, which challenges the revenue department's stop memo for violation of various land utilisation Acts. The inauguration landed up in a controversy as revenue minister E. Chandrasekharan claimed that his photo appeared in the ads without his consent. Though the organisers had issued extensive ads with the photographs of speaker P. Sivaramakrishnan and Union minister of state for defence Dr Subhash Bhamre, as participants, they also didn't turn up.
Mr Chandrasekaran told reporters that at no point of discussion he had consented to participate. “I came to know that there are some anomalies in its construction for which it got a stop memo,” he said. The revenue officials and Thondanad panchayat governing body members also kept off. The panchayat had issued a conditional license for the park insisting that if any government departments raise objections, the license will be cancelled. The stop memo of Mananthavady sub-collector last week says it violates Kerala Land Utilisation Act 1967 and Kerala Paddy and Wetland Conservation Act 2008.
The stop memo directed the company to stop all the construction works and other activities temporarily on the site till further orders. The order was consequential to a complaint by Adv Sreejith Perumana. Promoters say the park has many unique features like southern India's highest and longest zipline, the first mini marine aquarium in Wayanad, the state's highest artificial waterfall, a facility for visitors to have a close look at the tribal life, nine natural ponds and two multi-activity live show theatres. Funded by 300 NRIs, the park's theme is Nature, Knowledge and Entertainment. Chief executive officer K. Venkatarathnam said in a press statement that the theme park project was executed without cutting even a single tree on the 35-acre land.
