CHENNAI: New sea-view villas and apartments being built at Mudaliarkuppam on East Coast Road don’t have mandatory environmental clearances and some of the existing buildings were constructed without planning permissions, according to government reports submitted to the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
Residents of Thazuthalaikuppam, a village in the neighbourhood, had filed a case seeking directions from the tribunal to demolish all ‘illegal’ constructions in Paramankeni and Mudaliarkuppam villages. This included private villas, resorts, religious institutions, and development works taken up by Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC), a government body.
The tribunal directed the state environment department and Chengalpet Collector to inspect these sites and submit a report in November. Collector Rahul Nath said that some buildings in Paramankeni had not obtained planning permission and TTDC hasn’t constructed any buildings but has put up only a few umbrellas.
However, V K Saravanan, range officer of the environment department, said that none of the structures built at no-development zones in Paramankeni had obtained mandatory Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) clearance and some of the buildings are located as close as 10 metres from the waterline. In some cases, the owners paid the panchayat approval fee and went ahead with the construction even before authorities could go through their application.
Environmentalists say this could influence erosion patterns in nearby areas but also affect fish spawning grounds, which in turn will have an adverse impact on local fishing communities.
Apart from private villas, resorts, a church and a school also have been constructed in CRZ-III zones, where ideally no development should take place, said the range officer’s report. Some of these owners have obtained patta from the local revenue office but were unavailable at the site to provide an explanation. Therefore, the officials had to seek inputs from architects and other workers at the site, the inspection report said.
The case is scheduled to be heard again next month.
