NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has stayed construction of an ultra-modern housing project, including resorts and a helipad, in the Kumaon Hills of Nainital in Uttrakhand and directed the construction company to maintain status quo till further orders.A bench of Justices R F Nariman and Indu Malhotra passed the order on a plea of a resident, alleging that construction was going on in the forest area in violation of law and no statutory clearance was taken by the company — Devanya Private Ltd — before embarking on the project for constructing 50 resorts/cottages with swimming pools and a helipad in the ecologically sensitive zone.The petitioner, Birendra Singh, moved the Supreme Court after National Green Tribunal (NGT) refused to stay construction.Challenging the NGT order, senior advocate Gopal Subramanium and lawyer Vipin Nair, told the bench that the tribunal erred in dismissing the plea against the company and pleaded that the construction should be stayed in order to protect the pristine environment in the area.