At last, the administration on Tuesday filed criminal cases against the violators of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms following a direction by the National Green Tribunal (NGT). District Magistrate Aravind Agarwal, through the Government Pleader, filed 18 criminal cases against 16 hotels and two apartment owners for violation of CRZ norms in the Court of Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM), Puri, Priya Ranjan Barik. If convicted, the law prescribes five years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs one lakh. The NGT, while adjudicating a public interest litigation (PIL) on the pollution of the Puri beach and encroachments, had sent an expert team to identify the commercial establishments violating the CRZ norms. The expert team in August last week inspected the coastline of Puri and identified 25 hotels including two apartments violating the CRZ norms and submitted its report to the NGT. The NGT directed the district administration to initiate legal action against these 25 hotels and apartments. In the first phase, the Government Pleader lodged criminal cases against 18 hotels and two apartments. The hotels booked under the EP Act are Sterling Holiday Resorts, Hotel Chariot, Hotel International, Golden Palace, Mayfair, Bijay International, Samudra, Holiday Resorts, Pink House, Beach Hut, Safari International, Akash, Allahabad Bank holiday home, and partments Gitanjali and Sri Ram. Almost all the office-bearers of the Hotel Association of Puri (HAP) were booked in the case. In 2002, Beach Protection Council president Jagannath Bastia had filed a complaint with the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests over rampart violation of the CRZ norms. The Ministry sent an expert team headed by the Chief Conservator of Forests and Environment which conducted a detailed inspection of the beach. The experts identified as many as 316 hotels including these 25 establishments for violation of the CRZ norms. The expert committee in its report to the State Government suggested legal action and removal of these illegal structures at the earliest. The Government did not act over the report for more than a decade until it was directed by the NGT.