In a move that will provide reprieve to wildlife and environment, the Chamarajanagar district administration has cracked down on proliferation of homestays around Bandipur.
This follows a complaint by the Forest Department calling for rescinding the permission issued for resorts and homestays after the Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ) for Bandipur was notified in 2012 on the grounds that they were inimical to wildlife. The Forest Department had also cited a case of a massive mansion with swimming pool being constructed in the ECZ and said that it was a wastage of precious resource in a water-stressed region.
Based on the complaint and the report of the Forest Department, Chamarajanagar Deputy Commissioner M.R. Ravi reviewed the situation and rescinded the licences and permits issued for 3 homestays in the Bandipur ECZ.
In one case in Hangala Hobli, Mangala village, a homestay was being renovated illegally and the Gundlupet Tahsildar has been directed to get the property closed and cleared within 10 days.
It transpired that the homestay was floated after the draft notification of the ESZ for Bandipur which was issued on August 31 2010. The work on the homestay was stopped a few years ago and the property was locked. “But it transpired that the property was reopened for repair and renovation works without permission and the landlord had entered into an MoU with a promoter without any permission or licence to run the homestay’’, according to the district administration. The licenses in the case of two other properties have also been cancelled by the district administration.
Bandipur Tiger Reserve has an ESZ spread over 479.18 sq.km encompassing 123 villages wherein construction of residential units are permitted but change of land use pattern for commercial purpose is prohibited.
