Overview
- The Kerala High Court registered a suo motu public interest litigation after reporting accused large-scale tree felling and unauthorised construction on Gudanpara Estate inside the Cardamom Hill Reserve.
- The Forest Department has lodged three criminal cases over roughly one and a half years for felling rare native trees and for damage from excavation works that include large ponds.
- Munnar divisional forest officer Saju Varghese said the department will ask the District Collector and the Devikulam Subcollector to cancel cardamom title deeds and push for government reclamation because of repeated lease-rule breaches.
- Investigators report that the leaseholders failed to produce ownership or lease documents, that large tracts were allegedly subleased to Tamil Nadu residents, and that the land was previously linked to Harrisons Malayalam Limited with an existing state civil suit.
- Officials describe the estate as virgin forest with more than 600 tree varieties and as wildlife habitat, and they warn that tree removal and illegal pond excavations risk biodiversity loss, landslides, and harm to local water resources.