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The Confederation of Environment Associations of Nilgiris (CEAN) has appealed to the Nilgiris District Collector to implement Real Estate Regulatory Authority Act (RERA) and also look into violation of guidelines of Geographical Survey of India (GSI) in the hill district.
Surjit K. Choudhary, chairperson and coordinator of CEAN, said the GSI norms stated that no building could be constructed on a gradient of more than 20% with or without revetment wall of not more than 10 feet height. The district geologists were not uniformly following this norm for reasons best known to them. The Highways Department was also not following these rules diligently while giving permission for the access ways, widening the roads or while smoothening the curves.
CEAN also pointed out that the authority to use earth movers had been vested with the Collector to protect the fragile hill ecology. It had been noticed that permissions had been given to Medanad Tea Estate and Highways Department.
The Tourism Department was creating infrastructure and the Highways Department was widening the roads to facilitate the tourist traffic. This was leading to more biotic stress on the hills by way of more footfalls. Hence, CEAN appealed to the District Collector to control the tourist pressure before the Nilgiris also became like Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
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