Indian Express: Chennai: Tuesday, July 25, 2017.
The Tamil
Nadu State Coastal Zone Management Authority (TNSCZMA) has used a fraudulent
CRZ map to facilitate industrial activity in Ennore creek, allege activists.
“Using this
map, the TNSCZMA has diverted around 1,000 acres in the creek to facilitate a
proposal by Kamarajar Port Ltd,” said Pooja Kumar from Coastal Resource Centre,
referring to RTI responses received from the Department of Environment, Tamil
Nadu, and the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change, New Delhi
on June 22.
On the
allegation of using the wrong map, the member secretary, TNSCZMA, H Malleshappa
said through the RTI response that he had furnished a map that was ‘revised and
approved by Government of India in 1997.’Malleshappa’s response referred to a
letter in 1997, in which the Government of India had permitted the TN
government to revise the boundaries of Ennore creek, based on a survey by the
Naval Hydrographer. He was, however, unavailable for comments despite repeated
calls.
A subsequent
RTI response from the Department of Environment dated July 20, however, exposed
that the Department did not approach the Chief Hydrographer to demarcate the
backwater areas. “In 1997, the Department of Environment did not approach the
Chief Hydrographer to demarcate the backwater areas,” the response said.
Further it revealed that subsequent to the letter dated 30.9.1997, no
modification has been done.
Environmentalist
Nityanand Jayarman from Save Ennore Creek Campaign said, “The RTI revealed that
Malleshappa’s claim that 1997 map had replaced the 1996 map showing the creek
as a protected zone was false.”Kamarajar Port Ltd, however, denied using either
of the maps. “We use an IRS map given by Anna University in 2011,” said a top
representative of the port. This map, however, did not match with the
Government of India-approved map from 1996.
Nityanand
added, “The illegal approvals given for encroachments within the creek by the
SCZMA puts nearly 1 million people at risk for disastrous flooding. The
campaign will pursue criminal prosecution of the officials involved in the
fraud.”
The matter
has been brought to the notice of the Environment Secretary, the Chief
Secretary and the State Disaster Management Authority by Coastal Resource
Centre.
Already 1,090
acres of the 6,500-acre creek have been encroached upon. An additional 300
acres have been degraded by flyash discharged from North Chennai Thermal Power
Station. “As we speak, NTECL Vallur is dumping mud on mangroves to expand its
flyash pond,” he said.
Not a
match
Kamarajar Port
Ltd, however, denied using either of the maps. They said, “We use an IRS map
given by the Anna University in 2011,” said a top representative of the port.
This map, however, did not match with the Government of India-approved map from
1996.
.JPG)
.JPG)
