Tamil Nadu Govt Denies Okaying Housing Project Inside Ramsar Site
‘The survey numbers mentioned in the allegation petition are private patta lands as per the available revenue records and not a part of the Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest under Forest Department,’ an official press release said on Tuesday
Chennai: Denying media reports that environmental clearance and plan approval were granted for a multi-storeyed building project within the Pallikaranai Reserve Forest, which has been declared as a Ramsar Site, the State department of environment, climate change and forests clarified that the plan approvals had been granted only for private patta lands.
‘The survey numbers mentioned in the allegation petition are private patta lands as per the available revenue records and not a part of the Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest under Forest Department,’ an official press release said on Tuesday.
The allegations made in the newspaper reports were not correct as the Pallikaranai Wetland limits, as part of the Ramsar Site, would come into force only after the delineation of the extent with specific survey numbers was completed by ground trothing, followed by a notification, the release said.
The approval for the building project was given by the authorities concerned only on the private patta lands outside the present Pallikaranai Marsh Reserved Forest boundaries as the Ramsar site was yet to be clearly delineated, it aid
Originally, in the Pallikaranai area, about 698 hectares was notified as Reserve Forest under the Tamil Nadu Forest Act, 1882, which was the Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest and no building permission had been accorded in this protected area, the release said.
The designated Ramsar Site included 698 hectares of the existing Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest and 550 hectares of additional area to be delineated after following due process, thus totalling 1248 hectares, it said.
The “ground truthing” as per the Wetland Rules for delineating boundaries with specific survey numbers of land parcels other than Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest had not been done so far, it said.
The National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), a Union Government institution, was given the task of delineating the boundaries with specific survey numbers in November 2024 and the process of preparing the Integrated Management Plan (IMP) for the site was on, it said.
