42 illegal resorts around Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve sealed

All 42 illegal resorts operating around the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) were sealed by the Erode district administration on Tuesday (January 13, 2026), in compliance with an order of the Madras High Court.

Based on a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed in 2022 by environmental activist R. Karpagam of Coimbatore, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G. Arul Murugan, on January 5, 2026, directed the Erode District Collector S. Kandasamy to initiate action against the illegal resorts and submit a status report by January 19, following which final orders would be passed.

Acting on the Collector’s directions, officials of the Rural Development Department, on January 6, issued notices to 21 resorts each in Thalamalai and Hasanur villages in the Thalavadi hills. The notices asked the resort owners and operators to submit relevant documents by January 12, 2026, if they had obtained permission to operate, failing which the buildings would be sealed on January 13. However, none of the resort owners or operators produced the required documents.

On Tuesday, five official teams, accompanied by police personnel, carried out the sealing process by pasting notices on the premises and sealing the resorts. Officials said the exercise was completed by the afternoon. They added that efforts were also under way to identify other establishments functioning without mandatory permissions in the hill area.