Foresters dismantle illegal resort in Jaldapara Nat’l Park
Times of India | 3 August 2024
Jalpaiguri: Foresters on Friday dismantled an under-construction private resort at Chilapata in Jaldapara National Park. The resort was being built illegally on forest land. The department had asked the owner several times to stop construction work, to no avail.
On Friday, with the help of teams from various ranges, the resort was dismantled and debris removed.
“Any encroachment on forest land won’t be tolerated. This will also send a strong message to others, who are planning similar things,” said Parveen Kaswan, DFO, Jaldapara wildlife division. “We now plan to plant trees on the retrieved land. It was important to dismantle the resort or else its presence would have encouraged many others to do the same,” Kaswan said.
According to reports, of the total land cleared, 0.53 acre belonged to the reserve forest while 0.36 acre was ‘khas’ land. The forest department has also served a show-cause notice to the ‘encroacher’, asking why he should not be prosecuted.
Sources claimed that the owner of the resort was from Kolkata and had a local partner. They had got the land with the help of some touts.