Three retired judges have written to the Chennai district collector and concerned departments seeking “smooth and lawful conduct” of the public hearing scheduled on Friday, December 20, to discuss the proposed expansion of Ennore Thermal Power Station (ETPS), Chennai. In their letter dated December 16, justices S Muralidhar, K Kannan, and D Hariparanthaman said several residents were denied the opportunity to voice their concerns over the proposed Pen Memorial project during a public hearing held in February 2023 and therefore, requested the authorities to ensure a fair hearing.
“The Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 2006, which governs the conduct of statutory public hearings such as the one held for the Pen Memorial and the one proposed for ETPS does not grant any discretionary powers to the Collector or Member Secretary to bar any person from airing her/his views on the dais or to ask them to submit it in writing. All views, for and against, should be entertained and a fear-free atmosphere must be guaranteed for peaceable expression of people’s concerns and aspirations. The District Collector is empowered and required to ensure such a peaceable atmosphere, and nothing more,” the letter read.
The judges requested Collector Rashmi Siddharth Zagade, officials of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEFCC), and the Tamil Nadu Forest Department, to ensure that all those who wish to speak are given their rightful opportunity.
In the letter, the judges alleged that the plot adjacent to the proposed thermal power plant had been reclassified as a residential zone while it should have been a “Special Industries and Hazardous use” zone. In the reclassified residential zone, 6,877 flats are to be constructed to house people evicted from the city’s slums, the letter said, warning that the proposed coal-burning plant could harm residents. The judges also recalled the December 2023 ammonia leak from the Coromandel International Limited (CIL) that led to hospitalisation of 50 residents, who lived near the plant.
“Do what is in your power to ensure that this highly environmentally discriminatory project is not permitted in Ennore or north Chennai, which is already suffering a disproportionate burden of pollution,” the letter read.