CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has directed the State government to respond to a writ petition challenging the revenue department’s order to transfer a wetland to the Indian Statistical Institute.On May 16, 2014, the revenue department classified 38 acres of land adjoining Buckingham Canal in Karapakkam village in Sholinganallur taluk of Chennai as poramboke land, of which 8 acres were transferred to establish the Indian Statistical Institute.
IH Sekar, founder of the Chennai-based Nature Trust, filed a writ petition against this in the court, which has now directed the respondents to respond within four weeks. The petitioner said Buckingham Canal receives excess water from the Pallikaranai marshland through the Thoraipakkam-Okkiam channel, discharges it into the sea, and acts as a protective shield for Chennai during the rainy season. It is important to protect the canal’s flood plains to prevent fragmentation of the water channel, Sekar said.
He also pointed out that the Supreme Court in 2017 said all wetlands larger than 2.25 hectares have to be reclaimed whether they are notified or not, and sought a stay on the operation of the revenue department’s order.