Kozhikode District Collector Seeram Sambasiva Rao has designated an expert panel to investigate the four bunds constructed at PVR Naturo Resort at Kakkadampoyil. The bunds are obstructing the natural flow of water in a tributary of the Iruvazhinji river.
The panel comprising executive engineer of the Micro Irrigation Department, a scientist at the Centre for Water Resource Development and Management, and the District Soil Protection Officer will visit the site and submit a report in two weeks.
The panel was appointed at a hearing on complaints about the bunds as well as the High Court order demanding action on the matter within two months. Kerala Nadi Samrakshana Samiti State general secretary T.V. Rajan, who had approached the High Court, was present at the hearing. He said the four bunds and a few villas had been constructed in the resort without the consent of the local body or the village authorities. On the other hand, the resort manager claimed that the resort had no role in the construction of the bunds.
Koodaranhi village officer and Koodaranhi panchayat secretary had submitted a report to the District Collector earlier, which maintained that the bunds obstructed the natural flow of the stream, and that the panchayat had not granted permission for their construction.
PVR Naturo Resorts is owned by P.V.Anwar, MLA, and is part of the water theme park that was shut down in 2018 following landslips.
A bund constructed by Mr. Anwar just 1.5 km away from the resort at Cheenkannippala in Urangattiri panchayat of Malappuram was demolished on the orders of the Malappuram District Collector. Mr. Anwar’s family had contested it in the High Court, but the court had upheld the Collector’s action.
