The National Green Tribunal’s Southern Bench directed a two-member committee, formed to conduct a study on construction of a car park in a place which Tamil Nadu claims to be water spread area of Mullaperiyar reservoir under its control, to submit a report by April 7.
When the case came up for hearing on Wednesday, the Bench, comprising judicial member M. Chockalingam and expert member R. Nagendran, directed both Tamil Nadu and Kerala to extend cooperation for the execution of the work by the committee.
One representative of the committee is from the Surveyor General of India and the other is from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). The team will have to survey the entire site and file a report on or before April 7. Earlier, the Kerala government and the Periyar Tiger Conservancy Foundation, Kerala, requested the Bench to vacate the order of status quo granted in favour of Tamil Nadu, so that they could commence construction of the car park at the spot. The Bench declined the plea. In September, the Bench asked Kerala to put on hold the construction of the mega car park. A status quo was ordered following an application from Tamil Nadu .
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The matter has been adjourned to April 7.
The Bench directed both the Tamil Nadu and Kerala governments to extend cooperation