Chennai: A well known non-governmental organisation (NGO), Poovulagin Nanbargal has moved the Madras high court seeking to declare the land acquisition proceedings for the proposed Green Field Salem-Chennai Highway as unconstitutional and void.
The NGO contented that the authorities have already commenced proceedings under the National Highways Act even before receiving objections/opinions from the persons likely to be affected by the project.
The NGO stated that the 80 per cent of present alignment of the project passes through agricultural lands and ten per cent through reserved forest. As per the land acquisition notification, the authorities should have conducted public hearing in five districts - Salem, Krishnagiri, Kancheepuram, Dharamapuri and Thiruvannamalai. However, no such hearing had conducted by the authorities. This amounts to violation of Supreme Court directive, it said.
Another prominent petitioner the PMK MP, Dr Anbumani Ramadoss has also opposed the land acquisition process by the authorities for the project. The leader said the authorities had failed to undertake the impact of drilling tunnel at three places for forming a road for a length of 3-km in Jaruku hills in Salem district. He said the local residents vehemently oppose the project.
Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, was also present in the HC during the hearing on Tuesday. In the petition he submitted that there is a genuine apprehension in the minds of the farmers and the common public that the scheme is made to look attractive on the surface reading of the benefits claimed by the national and state Governments.
But the implementation of the scheme is bound to affect the livelihood concerns of thousands of farmers under the guise of land acquisition and the consequently they are likely to be thrown out of their lands ,leaving them in the lurch and rendering them landless, homeless and making them the labourers for their life.
In another PIL filed an advocate A P Suryaprakasam, he sought the court to direct the central and the state government to appoint experts in the field of environment, ecology, water management and human resources, to study the ecological and environmental damages that would be caused on account of the land acquisition initiated for laying the corridor, before taking up land acquisition process.
A large number of several species of trees would be felled and water bodies would be filled up for laying the highway.
Before undertaking such a massive road project, the government ought to have assessed the ecological and environmental affect, he said.
