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Kerala high court stays construction of resort near Malampuzha dam

Kochi: The high court has issued a stay on the alleged construction of a resort in the protected area of Malampuzha Dam on Monday.

Justice Anil K Narendran issued a stay after considering a petition by Palakkadan Karshaka Munnettam through advocate Maitreyi Sachidananda Hegde. It was alleged in the petition that the resort is being constructed at a distance of 35 metres from the dam whereas construction activities are banned within 1,000ft of dams.



S S Padmakumar, executive engineer of irrigation division, Malampuzha, had filed an affidavit that said construction activities are going on in the protected area on the strength of a building permit granted by the secretary of Malampuzha grama panchayat.

In the interim order, the court said, “Having considered the pleadings and materials on record and also the submissions made by the learned counsel on both sides, this court deems it appropriate to grant an interim order restraining the 12th respondent (KP Khalid, proprietor of Au Revoir Resort) from having any construction activity in the property… for a period of one month.”

Though the court had issued notices to the secretary of Malapuzha Grama Panchayat and the resort owner, nobody had represented the panchayat during the hearing. The court has granted three weeks to the resort owner to file a counter affidavit.

The court said in the interim order that the secretary of Malampuzha Grama Panchayat should ensure strict compliance of the court’s stay order and should get police assistance if necessary.

The irrigation department had informed the court that the Malampuzha dam falls under the category of protected areas as per a state government notification issued in June 1963 under provisions of Defense of India Rules, 1963. In the notification, the boundary is specified as the entire water-spread area of the dam, including a 1,000-feet belt around the periphery. In the case of the construction under challenge, the resort site is 35 metres or 115 feet away from the maximum water level, the court was told.

An NOC was issued by the chief engineer in charge of the dam subject to the condition that construction is not carried out in protected area and also not on irrigation land. However, the grama panchayat issued a building permit by relying on the NOC.

“It is seen from the averments of the writ petitioner that the construction of the resort of the 12th respondent (KP Khalid) was granted by the secretary, Malampuzha grama panchayat by considering the NOC… But this respondent fails to understand how the construction is carried out in the protected area when no such permission has been granted by the KDSA ( Kerala Dam Safety Authority) or the chief engineer,” the irrigation department’s affidavit had stated.

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