Isha Foundation applied for permission with TN's Forest Department, but it started construction after the village panchayat's permission.
CAG submitted a report on Economic Sector for the year, which ended in March 2017 in the State Assembly in July 2018. It claimed that the Isha Foundation had constructed various buildings in an area of 32,856 sq ft with Booluvapatti village panchayat's permission between 1994 and 2008. panchayat." But this construction was carried on without obtaining a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Forest Department and the Hill Area Conservation Authority (HACA). It also mentioned that Foundation requested the NOC for already constructed buildings in 2011, but Forest Department returned it in 2013. Tamil Nadu's Forest Department failed to stop the construction of the buildings by the Isha Foundation despite notices. Following that, an individual filed a petition in the High Court of Madras to demolish the unapproved building by Isha Foundation. The petition was filed for the benefit of wildlife. After that, no further action was initiated to stop the construction, the CAG report quoted.
However, Isha Foundation responded to CAG's allegation stating that "in the counter-affidavits filed by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department in High Court of Madras mentioned that nowhere Isha is in the elephant corridor." Further added that "in 58th HACA Meeting held on March 2017, the approval for all the Isha Foundation buildings and technical clearance was given by the Tamil Nadu Town & Country Planning Department."
Indeed Isha Foundation applied for permission, but it constructed the building only with the village panchayat's permission and failed to take Tamil Nadu's Forest Department approval until 2016.
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