Hundreds of illegal resorts in Kerala's Wayanad

Over 500 illegal resorts and homestays are operating illegally in Wayanad in Kerala. As tree huts and tents require no prior permission, owners find it easy to set up resorts. Recently, a twenty-four-year-old woman was trampled by an elephant in one such resort in the district.

Wayanad: More than 500 resorts and homestays are functioning illegally in Wayanad district of Kerala, according to an estimate. Most of these are set up along the forests and tribal settlement areas in Wayanad.

Along the elephant corridor at Periya in Wayanad, a few resorts and access roads have been built up by levelling hills and tampering the ecosystem. Many resorts and tourist homestays have been mushrooming in Vythiri, Meppadi and Thirunelli panchayats as well as close to the Muthanga Wildlife sanctuary, besides Periya region.

There are many tree huts and tents in the resorts situated in the valleys of Chembra, Vellarimala and Elambilerimala hills in Wayanad. As there is no particular license or official permission required to built tree huts and tents, such make-shift structures have been erected by the resorts without any security or safety measures in the areas adjacent to the forests and the elephant corridors.

The environmental activists from the district are all set to move the Court against the construction works along the elephant corridors. The authorities have recently started examining whether resorts and homestays are functioning in the district without proper licenses and permissions.