After Ankita Bhandari’s brutal murder, NGT closes 36 illegal resorts, hotels n clubs etc in Chilla Rajaji Tiger Reserve with immediate effect including Vanantara

While the Ankita Bhandari brutal murder episode that has literally shaken the conscience of Uttarakhand’s inhabitants across spectrum including the ruling political dispensation compelling its police department to expedite the probe through STF to make a solid case against the obnoxious culprits to pacify the roaring sentiments the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami also seems to have become proactive in punishing the guilty at all costs even expediting the probe in recruitment, cheating and paper leak scam bringing the big fish to justice, though appointed during the tenure of the then Congress chief minister Harish Rawat. There may be different assumptions over these actions, but the fact remains that former CM Harish Rawat has apologized for nominating RBS, Rawat, a former IFS as the chief of UKSSSC who happens to be a staunch RSS man. Meanwhile, the NGT has also become extremely stringent in actions after the Ankita murder case directing immediate closure of 36 hotels, resorts, pubs, clubs and Ashrams functioning in Chilla Range of Rajaji openly flouting the Supreme Court norms. The National Greens Tribunal bench led by Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel while hearing the petition filed by the All India Young Lawyers Association has ordered the immediate closure of thirty six such properties operating in the Chila Rajaji Park Range in forest areas flouting the apex court norms including much infamous Vanantara resort owned by Pulkit Arya, main culprit in the alleged murder of its receptionist 19 year old Ankita Bhandari of Srikot village, under district Pauri Garhwal. While issuing the orders of immediate closure of these illegally constructed resorts the NGT directed state pollution control board to receive the compensation from 19 resorts for flouting the environmental norms as a punitive measure initially within three months as per the set norms. The NGT ruled that the compensation collected may be utilised for the restoration measures under the directions n monitoring of a committee already constituted within six months. The matter has been posted for Feb 23 rd 2023 and the SPCB, Director Rajaji Tiger Reserve and the District Magistrate have been assigned cumulative responsibility to follow and implement the directions of NGT in all seriousness. Meanwhile the chairman of SDC Dehradun Anoop Nautiyal has lauded this crackdown on the illegal resorts in Uttarakhand tweeting : NGT has directed closure of 36 illegal resorts, clubs, etc including Vanantara in Rajaji Tiger Reserve ( RTR) # Uttarakhand. It said that responsibility for implementation of directions is with SPBC, DM n Director RTR. It’s good that there is crack down against illegal establishments tweeted Nautiyal.