New Delhi: The popular hill destination of Munnar is in peril due to illegal land-grab and wanton construction, union minister of state for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution C.R. Choudhury has told the Center.
The minister said in a report to the prime minister and the home minister that diminished greenery was a sign of danger. Choudhury, after a recent visit to Munnar, said he would submit a detailed report to the prime minister on land-grab and large-scale illegal constructions in Munnar.
Construction of huge buildings on illegally occupied government land in environmentally sensitive areas could cause serious risks in future. Most of the areas in Munnar were vulnerable to natural calamities like landslide. Land-grab was illegal, whichever party patronized it, the minister said adding it was the duty of the state government to prevent it.
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The minister visited Munnar after BJP state unit chief Kummanam Rajasekharan submitted a detailed report to the Center. Choudhury visited encroached land in Chithirapuram and Pallivasal. The minister visited the controversial plot on which Munnar MLA S. Rajendran had reportedly built a house. The BJP had sought Central help to tackle land-grab in Munnar after 'the state government failed to take action.'