MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has granted one month time to the state government to file a status report on the suo motu proceedings initiated by the court to declare Samanatham tank in Thiruparankundram as a sanctuary.
The court initiated the proceedings by taking suo motu cognizance of various appeals made to protect the said water body. It also took note of a news report published in TNIE on August 25, 2024 about a similar recommendation made by the Madurai Nature Cultural Foundation, which visited the water body and found about 300 rare species of birds.
Presently, the tank is easily accessible to the public and is therefore vulnerable to poaching and loss of natural habitat, the court noted. If the tank is declared as a sanctuary under Section 18 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, it would become a protected area and the entry of the public would be restricted by invoking Section 27 of the Act and various other protective measures prescribed under Chapter IV of the Act, it added.
Recalling that a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition filed by one R Manibharathi seeking the same relief was closed in view of the submissions made by the state that proposals have been forwarded to the government in that regard, the court observed that there has not been any fruitful result so far and initiated the suo motu proceedings. If declared as a sanctuary the said tank would be the first sanctuary to be declared so in the Madurai district, it further said.
When the matter was heard on Monday by a bench of Justices G Jayachandran and R Poornima, the government counsel sought time to file a status report, following which the case was adjourned for a month.