Madras HC stays road construction for private firm’s ECR township project – Times of India

CHENNAI: Construction of a 120-ft road across two water bodies in Thiruvidanthai near Thiruporur on East Coast Road (ECR) for creating access to a 160-acre township developed by a private construction firm has been stayed by Madras high court.
A division bench of Justice N Kirubakaran and Justice T V Thamilselvi passed the interim order on a plea moved by G Raja, a resident of the area.
According to the petitioner, over 43.6 acres of land are being irrigated with water primarily from Thiruvali Kuttai and Ambal Eari. Over several years many agricultural lands in the area were converted to residential plots and sold to private individuals including reality firms, he said.
One such private reality firm tried to lay a road in the middle of the two lakes to gain access to their land. However, the attempt was dropped since the villages opposed the move.
Subsequently on July 20, 2020 the firm once again tried to lay a road and started damaging the tanks using earth movers. When the issue was brought to the knowledge of the district collector the villager was shocked to know that a GO has been passed granting permission to widen a 60 feet road based on the recommendations of director of town planning and member secretary of Mamallapuram local planning authority, the petitioner said.
“The GO is illegal and has been issued for extraneous consideration without considering that water bodies are being alienated for commercial purpose,” the petitioner said.
Based on a representation, the jurisdictional revenue divisional officer directed the tahsildar, Thiruporur to take action against alienation of water bodies. But no action has been taken till date, he alleged.
The petitioner further alleged that though there are three existing roads available for the private firm to reach their land, they want to have a road across the lakes for commercial purposes.
Therefore, the petitioner wanted the court to interfere and set aside the GO granting permission for construction of the road.