CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board to hold an inspection at the electric crematorium set up by Isha Yoga Centre at Ikkarai Boluvampatti in Coimbatore and file a report on its findings by June 26.
The direction was issued by the division bench of Justices SS Sundar and N Senthilkumar when a petition filed by SN Subramanian, an Ikkarai Boluvampatti resident, came up for hearing.
The petitioner alleged that the crematorium has been constructed very close to residential area and it poses a threat to the health of the residents. Moreover, he stated that permission for raising the crematorium was granted by the civic body authorities without following the norms and holding the mandatory public hearing to seek objections from the public.
However, the Isha Yoga Centre in its counter-affidavit, denied the charges and stated that allegations are not only false but also completely motivated and the proceedings are initiated with ulterior motives.
It said the petitioner was not residing at Ikkarai Boluvampatti but he had given the wrong address in the petition and had wrongfully obtained government land under a scheme for the landless poor. The petitioner’s land is not a farmland. He has raised an unapproved shed which is not a dwelling house. The petitioner is a retired government employee and his wife is a serving government employee. They are trying to arm-twist the Isha Yoga Centre to sell their properties at an exorbitant rate. They have suppressed the facts in the petition, the counter-affidavit alleged.