Revenue officials seal illegal resort in Munnar

Revenue department officials sealed an illegally operating resort at Suryanelli, near Munnar, on Friday. According to officials, the Kerala High Court had previously ordered the closure of buildings constructed for commercial purposes without a Revenue department-issued no objection certificate (NOC).

A Suryanelli resident had approached the High Court alleging that the resort was constructed without the required NOC. Based on this petition, the court had directed revenue officials to ensure the property was not used for commercial purposes. Despite the issuance of a stop memo, the officials stated that the resort continued to operate in violation of the order.

Previous attempts by the officials to halt operations were blocked on three separate occasions by CPI(M) workers.

The High Court had recently issued an interim order to halt all operations at the resort, which is owned by Suryanelli resident S. Manoj. Acting on this order, on February 17, Udumbanchola LR tahsildar Sidhik Kutty, Chinnakkanal panchayat secretary V. Santhosh Kumar, and officers from the Santhanpara police station arrived at the site to enforce the closure. However, the team was blocked by CPI(M) workers led by district secretariat member N.P. Sunil Kumar.

Following these events, an amicus curiae submitted a report to the court stating that officials had failed to shut the resort due to threats from CPI(M) workers. Though CPI(M) workers again attempted to block the procedure on Friday, the police removed them from the site.

The officials said they will submit a formal report to the court regarding the enforcement action taken against the resort.