A committee appointed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday inspected an area in the Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR), where a playground was allegedly built without permission.
The NGT, Southern Zone, Chennai, ordered the inspection on a complaint filed by a private individual that the football ground was built in December last at Vanchivayal in the forest to organise a contest by the Forest Department. This was in addition to the filling of a marshy area to construct a parking ground at Anavachal, the point of entry to the Thekkady boat-landing station.
The inspection was ordered by the NGT under the Forest Conservation Rules, 1980.
District Collector H. Dinesan, a member of the committee, said the visit was in compliance with the direction of the NGT. The committee members conducted an inquiry after visiting the area where the football ground was built, and a report would be given to the NGT, he said.
The committee members spent nearly half-an-hour at the spot where the ground was constructed before proceeding to the parking area that had already been opened for tourist vehicles. The parking area was constructed without the consent of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board, said the complaint filed by activist Sajimon Salim.
