Chennai: Madras high court has directed the state and central governments to file their replies in four days on a PIL relating to an order passed by Member Secretary, Tamil Nadu State Coastal Zone Management Authority & Director of Environment dated granting permission for construction a memorial for former Chief Minister J. Jayalaithaa.
The First Bench comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice PT Asha, before which the PIL from S. Doraisamy, advocate in Madras High Court, came up for hearing on Monday, has directed Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Member Secretary, Tamil Nadu State Coastal Zone Management Authority & Director of Environment to file replies by June 29 and posted the matter to July 13 for further hearing.
Marina beach is known for its pristine beauty, ambiance and rich ecosystems. However, since the middle of the 20 century, the beach and its water started becoming polluted. The Marina has been considered as the world’s second longest urban beach and unlike most beaches across the world, it is a natural sandy urban beach similar to the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
On March 16, 2018, Tamil Nadu State Coastal Zone Management Authority and Director of Environment issued order of Clearance under CRZ Notification 2011 for the construction of memorial for former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. He alleged that the order was passed without obtaining clearance from Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) and without any recommendations from State Level Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) under Environment Protection Act, 1986 and Environmental Protection Rules, 1986, he said.
He said, “the beautiful beach has been converted as a burial ground for Jayalalitha and if such a move is not prevented at the threshold in another 100 years to come the entire stretch of beach would become a burial ground”. Hence, he sought for a direction from the Court to quash the order.
On May 8, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam laid the foundation stone for the construction of memorial on Marina beachfront. The monument would resemble a phoenix bird. When a petition filed by social activist, ‘Traffic’ Ramasamy challenging the construction of the memorial came up for hearing on June 18, came up for hearing in Madras high court Chief Justice Indira Banerjee observed that no constructions should be carried out in Marina.
