KOCHI: The division bench of the Kerala High Court criticized the Chinnakanal panchayat secretary for not providing information about the illegal resorts in Chinnakanal despite the request of the expert committee appointed by the high court to study the situation of wild animals entering populated areas. A division bench comprising Justice AK Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice P Gopinath asked the panchayat secretary why he did not provide the information. The criticism was brought up by the court when it was considering a suo moto petition on minimizing conflict between wild animals and people.

The committee sought information about details such as permission given to resorts in Chinnakanal. The committee also pointed out that there was an incident where the Secretary switched off the phone when it sought information. The Division Bench expressed displeasure with the Secretary's action.

The lawyer of the panchayat stated that the Secretary took charge in Chinnakanal very recently. The lawyer also presented information requested by the court.

The court alleged that permissions were given at will to several resorts adjacent to the forest area in Chinnakanal. The expert committee sought information about giving permission to the resorts in view of the scenes which showed wild elephants eating the garbage dumped near the forest area. The division bench said that the authorities are not taking action beyond issuing a notice for illegal construction. The court also directed to hand over the land use map to the expert committee.