Kerala - Kochi   

Apex court order to stay

Kochi: A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Tuesday made it clear that a Supreme Court order directing the Pappinisseri Eco Tourism Society to stop all commercial activities at its Mangrove Theme Park at Pappinissery would continue during the pendency of the society's petition challenging the action of the Central government.

The Bench comprising Chief Justice J. Chelameswar and Justice P.R. Ramachandra Menon issued the order while considering an amended writ petition filed by the society seeking to stay the new order issued by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. By the order, the Ministry had ordered stopping of all activities of the park.

The Supreme Court, while disposing of a Special Leave Petition filed by the Central government against an interim order staying the Ministry's order to stop construction activities at the theme park, had directed that “pending hearing {the society} and final disposal of the matter, respondent society will not commercially operate the park and will maintain status quo as far as construction is concerned. In this connection, we may clarify that, during the pendency of the matter, restaurants will not be allowed to operate and no eco-tourism will be allowed”.

The apex court had also ordered the Additional Director of the Ministry to hear and dispose of the matter in accordance with law.

The Union Environment Ministry had, on complaints by Congress leader K. Sudhakaran and several environmental activists, ordered stoppage of all activities at the mangrove park as it was found that the park came under the Coastal Regulation Zone category 1 (CRZ-1).

The CRZ-1, which regulates coastal areas with highly sensitive ecology, allows no development or construction activities except certain strategically critical ones. The stay order came on a petition filed by the society.

The Ministry passed the new order after hearing all the parties as directed by the Supreme Court. In its order, the Ministry directed the society to withdraw its brochure as it was misleading.

The Ministry also ordered that the Kerala State Coastal Zone Management Authority (KSCZMA) and the Centre for Earth Science Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, should assess the destruction/ damages made by the society and a report in this regard be submitted to the Ministry.

The Ministry also directed the KSCZMA to take necessary action for restoration of the area. The court directed the society to bear the cost of restoration.

It asked the KSCZMA to examine if the society violated the Wildlife Protection Act. If so, necessary action should be initiated in accordance with the Act. The State government had also been directed to inquire into the matter if the society was operating the park in violation of the Supreme Court order.

The Bench posted the case for final hearing on December 13.

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