KANNUR:

A team of experts, constituted by the Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority, on Tuesday, visited the controversial mangrove theme park on the northern bank of the Valapattanam river to assess the damage caused by the park to the ecologically fragile mangrove plot there.

The expert committee, headed by authority member B. Madhusoodhana Kurup, reached the park in the morning a day after it was closed down. On Monday, the park was served by the district administration a copy of the order of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests that steps be taken to stop all activities at the park which, it found, was established in violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules.

The seven-member team was constituted by authority chairman C.T. Sivasankaran Nair following a directive from the Union Ministry on July 14 that the authority form a committee to assess the damage caused to the mangrove ecology in the area and submit a report by July 24. The closure of the park run by the Communist Party of India(Marxist)-controlled Pappinissery Eco-Tourism Society on Monday followed the delivery of the instruction to the authority, along with a copy of the Ministry direction to stop the functioning of the park, to the secretary of the society. The team members spoke to the office-bearers of the society inside the park. Society vice-president A.V. Ajayakumar explained the society's side in the issue.

Mr. Kurup told presspersons that the report would be submitted by July 24. The team would examine all aspects of the issue before submitting the report, he said. It would also hear representatives of political parties and environmental groups. The team members also visited a nearby place where mangrove plants were destroyed.

The park, inaugurated by film star Suresh Gopi on April 4 last, was beset by controversies as environmental activists and the Opposition UDF alleged that the park was set up in violation of the CRZ rules. The opposition to the park received an impetus after the Union Ministry ordered that the park be closed as it was established in violation of the CRZ rules.