Following orders of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court to lock and seal boating operations by a private club and a hotel in the Kodaikanal lake, the Municipality sealed them on Wednesday.
A team of officials from the Kodaikanal Municipality, headed by Town Planning Officer T. Muruganandam, sealed the boats in the presence of Municipal Commissioner R. Murugesan.
“We have tethered and sealed 85 boats belonging to the Kodaikanal Boat and Rowing Club, and 14 boats belonging to The Carlton Hotel. We have also locked and sealed the boat jetties and ticket counters,” the Commissioner told The Hindu .
The operations will remain suspended until further orders from the High Court. However, the club building will remain open. The next hearing on the case has been listed on November 25.
Currently, only three boat jetties are operational, including the one run by the Kodaikanal Municipality with 35 boats, and two run by the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation. Heavy police force was deployed around the lake as the High Court orders were executed, officials said.
A section of environmentalists welcomed the move in the interest of protecting the lake and preventing over exploitation of the resource. However, another section felt that it might affect tourism.
