Follow TNM’s WhatsApp channel for news updates and story links.
The Madras High Court on Friday, October 31, stayed the construction of 1,400 residential units by real estate developer Brigade Morgan Enterprises on the Pallikaranai marshland, a protected Ramsar site in Chennai, till November 12.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan passed the interim order in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)’s Chennai legal wing district secretary, J Brezhnev.
He alleged that the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) had illegally granted permission for the project within the ecologically sensitive marshland area. The case refers to the recent allegations by the Anti-corruption NGO Arappor Iyakkam that various government departments in Tamil Nadu colluded to grant illegal permissions for the real estate project inside the Pallikaranai marshland Ramsar site.
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.
Senior counsel Ragavachari, who appeared for the petitioner, argued that CMDA’s approval violated the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules 2017, which prohibit developmental activity within Ramsar-notified wetlands or their one kilometre zone of influence.
Advocate General PS Raman, representing the state government, countered that the construction site lay outside the marshland and that not all of the land is classified as marsh areas.
He informed the court that the government, in line with Supreme Court directions, is currently measuring the marshland area, a process expected to be completed within two weeks.
He further said the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) had already granted environmental clearance for the project, based on which the CMDA issued permission.
However, the Bench expressed concern over CMDA granting clearance before the exact boundaries of the Ramsar site were finalised.
The judges said that protecting the Pallikaranai marsh was a crucial issue, noting that both the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) Southern Zonal Bench have previously taken a serious view of encroachments and development in the area.
The court directed the Tamil Nadu and Union governments to file their responses and barred any further construction activity until November 12, in which the case be next heard.
