Deccan Chronicle: Chennai: Saturday, July 22, 2017.
When the
environmental activists are crying foul over the exploitation of Ennore creek,
a new revelation brought out through the Right to Information reveals shocking
facts. While the government approved map
obtained through RTI by Jesu Rathinam of Coastal Action Network (CAN) in 1996
shows 6,469 acres of the Ennore creek as a No-Development Zone under CRZ-1,
another reply from the department of environment denies the existence of the
Ennore creek.
Pooja Kumar
of Coastal Resource Centre (CRC), said, “The map that we (CRC) acquired through
RTI in 2017 covers only 13 km and the entire Ennore creek had disappeared. But
the map obtained by Coastal Action Network covers a stretch of 16 km and is
consistent with the Coastal Zone Management Plan that identifies Sheet 2,
Tiruvallur district.” Condemning the offence, Jesu Rathinam of CAN said, “Since
both maps have been obtained under the RTI, the department of environment has
falsified the information in one of the two cases. This is a punishable
offence.”
The fishermen
from Ennore and the environmentalists from CAN, CRC and Save Ennore Campaign on
Friday demanded an independent probe into the functioning of the State Coastal
Zone Management Authority and the department of environment. Environmentalist
Nityanand Jayaraman said, “There should be one map, but there are two maps
which are government-approved. While one is legitimate, the other one is
clearly a lie. Two different complaints have been filed before Information
Commission and State Disaster Management Authority.”
The
irregularities in the functioning of the government would directly affect the
biodiversity of the Ennore creek. “If the Ennore creek ceases to exist, the
city of Chennai will face severe floods during monsoons,” added Nityanand. The
2017 RTI response included a 1997 letter from the Ministry of Environment &
Forests responding to certain changes proposed to be made by the state
government to accommodate the setting up of a petrochemical spark in Ennore.
The
revelation is beyond the question of fishermen's livelihood, as it now
questions the safety of the city monsoons, nothing can save the city, said R. L. Srinivasan, a fisher leader from the
Coalition of All Ennore Fishing Villages.
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