CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has sought the state’s response to a PIL challenging a 2026 G.O. issued by the Housing and Urban Development department to the effect of empowering the Town and Country Planning officials to grant permission for constructions on hill areas bypassing the regulatory mechanism of the Hill Area Conservation Authority (HACA).
The first division bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan issued the direction when the petition, filed by animal rights activist S Muralidharan, came up for hearing on Wednesday.
The petitioner said the G.O. permits land use conversion up to two hectares in urban areas and four hectares in rural areas. Apart from being issued without any environmental study or scientific assessment, the impugned G.O. defeats the very purpose for which the HACA was constituted, he said.
The bench adjourned the hearing by four weeks.