: Officials of the Revenue and Forest Departments on Wednesday asked the owner of a property to demolish two checkdams he had built across a stream that ran through Naduhatty Panchayat in Kotagiri taluk in the Nilgiris.
The officials ordered the removal after a spot inspection, following reports of illegal construction of the checkdams. They, however, said that the owner of the land would not be fined for chopping down the Shola forests that dotted the stream, as they could not find any evidence that the owner of the property had felled the trees.
S. Sathya, Naduhatty Village Administrative Officer, said after inspecting the site “I have prepared a report and sent it to the Tahsildar. In case the owner does not demolish the dams, the RDO will take action against the landowner,” she said.
However, local villagers said that the action against the private land owner was not enough, as they still could not access the stream because the chain-link fence that was put up on both sides of the river, had not been removed.
This hindered their access to the stream and to the waterfall nearby.
