The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday ordered notice to the Centre and the State in a public interest litigation petition that challenged the inclusion of Pazhavoor, Karunkulam and Levinchipuram villages of Tirunelveli district in the master plan for Kanniyakumari wildlife sanctuary eco-sensitive zone.
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A Division Bench of Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and P. Rajamanickam ordered notices in the PIL petition filed by the residents of Pazhavoor village. The court said further proceedings would be subject to the outcome of the petition and adjourned the hearing for filling of the counter affidavits.
In the petition, the villagers said the Centre and the State were in the process of publishing the master plan. This would result in curtailing the activities of the villagers permanently and cause much hardship. Instead, the villages can be retained as ‘zero metre’ eco-sensitive zone, the petition read.