CHENNAI: Despite a stop-work order and show cause notice issued by the State Coastal Zone Management Authority, the use of heavy machinery continues at an unauthorised construction site on the Kanathur Reddikuppam beach along the East Coast Road.
Local fishermen, who recorded videos of the construction and shared it with TNIE, said their livelihood is at stake and government officials, except for issuing notices, have done little else to actually stop the work.
The videos show multiple earthmovers levelling the beach, while workers are raising a compound wall just 10-15m away from sea. There were fishing nets lying on the beach, which is now being encroached by the construction.
“They have covered the view from outside with metal sheets and are continuing with the construction. On Tuesday, the work started at 6am and continued till 7pm,” Mahendran Mani, a local fisherman, said.
When contacted, Rahul Nadh, member secretary of TNSCZMA, said he would inform the Chengalpattu collector to take necessary action and enforce the stop work order.
The construction is happening in the No-Development Zone (NDZ) of CRZ-III, in Kanathur Reddikuppam village of Chengalpattu district. Assistant executive engineer P Arivalagan from the department of environment had inspected the area last month and concluded in his report that the property lies within NDZ, where new constructions are strictly prohibited under the CRZ notification.
As per para 8(III)(ii) of the notification, only repairs and reconstruction of existing authorised structures, or facilities essential for specific permitted activities, are allowed within NDZ - none of which apply to the present case.
The property is reportedly owned by Sherif Salman and Mugamud Riswan Sherif, residents of Venkateshwara Garden, ECR, Kanathur. Rahul Nadh had issued the stop-work order on June 23, directing the owners to immediately halt all ongoing development work at the site. A show cause notice was also issued asking the violators to explain within 15 days why legal proceedings should not be initiated under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.