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Anti-corruption NGO Arappor Iyakkam has alleged that various government departments in Tamil Nadu colluded to grant illegal permissions for a massive real estate project inside the ecologically sensitive Pallikaranai marshland Ramsar site. In a complaint to Chief Minister MK Stalin, the Director of the Department of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, and others on October 23, Arappor alleged that the real estate and property development company Brigade Enterprises was granted permissions in violation of rules.
The Pallikaranai marshland was declared a Ramsar site in April 2022. A Ramsar site is declared under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, an intergovernmental treaty for the conservation and wise use of wetlands. The Pallikaranai stretch is a freshwater marsh and partly saline wetland that acts as an aquatic buffer for the flood-prone Chennai and Chengalpattu districts. According to the Ramsar site data, this land is home to 115 bird species, ten mammals, 21 reptiles, ten amphibians, 46 fish, nine molluscs, five crustaceans, and seven butterfly species.
Construction cannot be undertaken inside a Ramsar site or within one kilometre of its boundary, and environmental clearance cannot be granted for such projects as per the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017.
Arappor has demanded an investigation into officials of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), the State Forest Department, the State Level Expert Appraisal Committee, and the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SLEIAA) responsible for assessing environmental clearance applications. The complaint put forward five demands, including the immediate cancellation of environmental clearance and plan approval for the project.
Arappor has also demanded that all lands within the Ramsar site of Pallikaranai marshland be immediately reclaimed and restored.
A 3,081-acre area under the Pallikaranai marshland had been declared a Ramsar site, with 1,705 acres handed over to the state forest department. However, 1,375 acres had already been taken over by various private and government entities.
Brigade submitted a project proposal to the member secretary of SEIAA in July 2022 for its project ‘Brigade Morgan Heights’ with 1,200 units and applied for environmental clearance in August 2023.
The builder later sought construction plan approval from the CMDA in February 2024 for its project Morgan Brigade Heights using 14.7 acres of land.
The five survey numbers—453, 495/2c, 496, 497, and 498—spread across 14.7 acres, come under the marshland, according to Arappor.
According to Arappor, Brigade Enterprises Ltd failed to declare in its application that this land is designated as Ramsar. The company allegedly falsely stated that the project site is 1.28 km from the Pallikaranai wetlands when it actually adjoins the marshland. “It is important to understand that SEAC and SEIAA are responsible for independently verifying whether the project lies on a wetland, and not merely relying on the project proponent’s claim,” Arappor’s letter states.
Arappor also criticised the forest department for stating that the property of the project proponent was 65 metres away from the marshland.
The NGO said the forest department should have mentioned that the property of the project proponent lies within the Ramsar boundary, especially since the state wetland authority functions under it.
Further, the department did not mention that the project site adjoins the land under its control.
“The forest department officials seem to have purposefully lied that there is a revenue parcel in between without mentioning its survey number. This seems to have been done to enable Brigade Enterprises Ltd to obtain environmental clearance by giving false reports,” the letter says.
“SEAC has called for several additional details, citing that the site lies ‘abutting the Pallikaranai Ramsar site’. Even a look at the Ramsar map and its survey numbers available with the Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Wetland Authority would have made it clear that this site falls within the Pallikaranai marshland Ramsar site and not merely abutting it,” the letter further says.
Brigade received environmental clearance on January 20, 2025, and three days later, on January 23, the CMDA approved the project proposal.
Arappor Iyakkam argues that since both the Additional Chief Secretary of the Environment and Forest Department and the Additional Chief Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, under which the CMDA falls, are members of the Tamil Nadu State Wetland Authority, the CMDA cannot claim ignorance about the Ramsar site’s existence, map, or notified survey numbers.
“If one of the IAS officers responsible for maintaining the Ramsar site had wanted to, they could have stopped it. If one of them had any concern for the people or for the Pallikaranai wetlands, they could have stopped this clearance. But what they want is real estate. It can still be stopped if Supriya Sahu (Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Climate Change & Forests | Government of Tamil Nadu) or G Prakash (CMDA Member Secretary) want to. The question is, will they?” said Jayaram Venkatesan, convenor of Arappor Iyakkam, in a video released on X.
When TNM reached out to Brigade Enterprises, the company spokesperson said, “The project has all necessary permissions and statutory clearances, having been duly obtained from the relevant authorities. Brigade Group has adhered to all applicable environmental regulations, and the project approval was granted only after a detailed site assessment by the concerned authorities.”
TNM tried to obtain a response from CMDA member secretary R Prakash, but he did not comment.