CHENNAI: The southern bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday ordered status quo on ongoing construction of tuna fishing harbour in Thiruvattriyur Kuppam in Ennore. The order was passed after it was prima facie proved that construction was being carried out by Tamil Nadu Fisheries department without obtaining mandatory environment clearance (EC) from State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA).
The tribunal has admitted the petition filed by Meenavar Nala Sangam’s KR Selvaraj Kumar and ordered status quo, besides forming an expert committee, comprising members from SEIAA, TNPCB and Tiruvallur Collector, to look into the alleged violation. Official documents show that the Fisheries department had applied for EC, but on December 16, 2019, State Environment Assessment Committee (SEAC), had found few lapses in the proposal and directed the department and the consultant, to prepare the appropriate environment impact assessment (EIA) and re-submit the proposal.
When contacted, Fisheries Commissioner GS Sameeran told Express that the project has CRZ clearance and SEIAA has also recommended it, but has asked for some additional information which has been submitted.”We are in the final stage of obtaining EC. Yes, some preliminary works were carried out,” he said. Sameeran said the harbour was the flagship project of the government, intended to create exclusive facilities for better tuna catching and processing.”The facility is intended to ease out the congested Chennai fishing harbour. At times, there is an acute shortage of space to land the boats. The proposed location is about 3.5 km north of the harbour, which will provide location advantage and flexibility in harbour operation and fishing activities.”