As the Ranipuram hill station, widely viewed as the Ooty of north Malabar, has been registering a steady rise in tourist flow, an environmental body here has come out with glaring instances of illegal construction activities in the ecologically fragile area located in the the Western Ghats.
“It is highly distressing to note that some vested real estate lobby are engaged in levelling the steep terrain in an attempt to build resorts as had been the case in Munnar,” Ranipuram Prakriti Samrakshana Samiti convener K.K. Ashokan told a press conference here on Wednesday.
The large-scale razing of the hill close to the path to the hill station was brought to the attention of authorities concerned and the Vellarikundu tahsildar, as ordered by the District Collector, had directed the Panathady grama panchayat, the district Geology Department, and the Motor Vehicles Department to initiate appropriate action against the vested group, he said.
However, no further action had been taken to stop the illegal activities and the the area was turning into another Munnar, he said.
The officials concerned should take steps to thwart the vicious designs of the group, he said.
The authorities should take steps to conserve nature’s beauty so as to attract more tourists to the hill station. The hill station has a decisive role in safeguarding the climatic conditions, including the rain pattern, of north Malabar region, he said.
