About 44 hotels and resorts have encroached on Government and forest land around the Corbett national park and are conducting their business on such locations. This shocking state of affairs was revealed in an affidavit submitted by the State's chief secretary in the high court of Uttarakhand.
Responding to information sought by the high court, the chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh stated in the affidavit that on April 7, the Nainital district magistrate had conducted a site inspection of resorts in Ramnagar and nearby locations. The inspections had revealed that the owners of 44 resorts had encroached upon Government land, forest land, barren land of the Government and other types of land. In the affidavit, the Chief Secretary also stated that many resort owners had also encroached in forest area. Forest crime against such resort owners have been recorded in the office of the divisional forest officer since 2010 but no action has been taken in this regard so far. Further, the owners of 13 resorts have also encroached on public property and are using the same for commercial purpose. Cases against such resort owners have been pending in the office of the sub divisional magistrate since 2012.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Himalayan Yuva Gramin Vikas Samiti had filed a public interest litigation in the high court.
The head of the group, Mayank Mainali had stated in the petition that some resort owners in Ramnagar had blatantly violated the law and encroached upon the Kosi riverbed to make illegal constructions.
Such activities were also causing harm to the wildlife in the region.
The sewage from the resorts is being drained into the Kosi river without being treated. The petitioner and appealed to the court to direct legal action against the owners of such resorts. Regarding this, the high court was not satisfied by the affidavit filed by the sub divisional magistrate of Ramnagar and had directed the chief secretary to file an affidavit.
After the Chief Secretary submitted an affidavit, the high court has directed the petitioner to file a counter affidavit.
The case has been set for the next hearing after two weeks.