The Madras High Court has warned cancelling the Salem-Chennai Green Corridor project if wrong details are submitted to the court. The top court was hearing a bunch of petitions filed by farmers, landowners and political parties to stay the land acquisition for the green expressway project on Tuesday.
The counsel for the petitioner stated that government officers are acting against the orders of the court and are taking steps to acquire land for the project. He also submitted that government, in an attempt to acquire land, is cutting trees in the area and backed his claims with photographs.
The court had previously ordered the government to stop acquiring land and only measure the land required to construct the highway.
The state government had filed a report in court on Monday stating that the land required for the project has been surveyed and sub-divisions have been created. The report also stated that the land is being acquired by the government.
The bench of Justices TS Sivagnanam and Bhavani Subbaroyan, after seeing the report, condemned the state government for not abiding by the orders of the court.
Stating that the actions of the state government are no way in line with its promises given to the court, the judges said that if this continues, they would not hesitate to stay the project.
The judges also raised questions as to how the state government will acquire land of the private individuals without their knowledge and consent. They also remarked that the officers will not know the feeling when one’s land is acquired without one’s consent unless it is one’s own land.
Directing the National Highways Authority of India to submit a report on the environmental impact of the project by the concerned authority on the date of the next hearing, the Court also ordered the TN government to submit the details of the works carried out in relation to the land for the project and posted the case for its next hearing on September 14.