Madras High Court Orders Closure of 87 Illegal Resorts in Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve: Tiger Reserves, NBWL Approval and Wildlife Law
The Madras High Court ordered the immediate closure of 87 illegal resorts operating inside and around the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) in Erode district, Tamil Nadu.
The court also ordered the authorities to start steps to demolish the illegal buildings.
The case grew out of a public interest litigation (PIL) filed in 2022, which said resorts and lodges were running in the reserve without the legal approvals needed under wildlife law.
Under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, commercial tourist lodges and hotels cannot be built inside a sanctuary without the prior approval of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL). Petitioners said these resorts never got such approval.
In earlier hearings, the State had told the court that 42 unauthorised lodges had been closed and sealed. The latest order covers a much larger number of buildings.
Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR)
Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) is a tiger reserve in Erode district of Tamil Nadu, close to the Karnataka border. It covers about 1,408 sq km. It is special because it sits exactly where the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats meet, so it acts like a bridge that lets animals move between these two great hill ranges. It was notified as a tiger reserve in March 2013, the fourth in Tamil Nadu.
The High Court's order to close 87 illegal resorts aims to remove buildings that cut into one of south India's most important wildlife corridors. Because STR links the Western and Eastern Ghats, disturbance here affects tigers and elephants across a much larger landscape.
National Board for Wildlife (NBWL)
The National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) is India's top body for wildlife protection. It is a statutory body, which means it was created by a law passed by Parliament: the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. It is chaired by the Prime Minister. It advises the government on wildlife policy and, most importantly, its permission is needed before many kinds of projects can come up inside or change the boundaries of protected areas like national parks, sanctuaries and tiger reserves.
The resorts in Sathyamangalam were challenged mainly because they did not have the NBWL approval that Section 33 of the Wildlife Act requires for commercial lodges and hotels inside a sanctuary. The High Court's closure order shows that local permissions cannot replace this national wildlife clearance.
Project Tiger and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)
Project Tiger is India's national programme to save the tiger. It began on 1 April 1973 with 9 tiger reserves. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is the legal body that runs it today. It was set up in 2006 under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Each tiger reserve is managed under a tiger conservation plan approved by the NTCA, with a core zone kept free of disturbance and a buffer zone around it.
Sathyamangalam is one of the tiger reserves under Project Tiger. Illegal resorts in its core, buffer or surrounding areas work against the very idea of a tiger reserve: a quiet, connected home where tigers can breed and move.
- Illegal resorts ordered closed: 87, with steps to start demolition
- Court: Madras High Court; case began as a PIL in 2022
- Earlier action reported to the court: 42 unauthorised lodges closed and sealed
- Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve: about 1,408 sq km, Erode district, notified March 2013 (4th in Tamil Nadu)
- Wildlife sanctuary since 3 November 2008; largest sanctuary in Tamil Nadu after 2011 expansion
- STR tigers: about 18 (2010) to about 112 (2024-25)
- Legal rule: Section 33, Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: no commercial tourist lodge or hotel inside a sanctuary without NBWL prior approval
- NBWL: 47 members, chaired by the Prime Minister; Standing Committee under Section 5B
- Project Tiger: launched 1 April 1973 with 9 reserves; NTCA set up in 2006