CHENNAI: In blatant disregard of coastal regulation laws, an illegal road has been laid by unidentified persons in the turtle nesting area on Injambakkam beach allegedly to aid construction in prohibited coastal stretches.
Several tonnes of construction debris were dumped on the beach. The road was reportedly laid in the last week of September. The site falls in zone 15 of the Chennai corporation, which is already under the scanner of the Madras High Court for several unauthorised building constructions in violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms.
Though work on the road was stopped after fishermen activists IH Sekhar, who is a resident of Injambakkam, and K Saravanan raised an alarm and filed a police complaint, the debris was still lying on the beach when The New Indian Express visited the spot a few days ago. About 10 metres of road was illegally laid before it was stopped.
Chennai falls under CRZ-2 (Urban) area up to Uthandi on East Coast Road and as per the CRZ notification, construction of buildings is permitted on the landward side of the existing road or on the landward side of existing authorised structures. In many areas, illegal roads are laid on the seaward side thus setting a new reference point for the landward side and enabling construction in prohibited areas closer to the sea.
The corporation authorities also confirmed that an attempt was made to lay a road without permission last month in survey number 15 of Injambakkam village, but was thwarted when they got the information. "The construction debris was dumped by unidentified persons to lay the road, which we immediately removed," zonal officer Sukumar claimed, when contacted by The New Indian Express.
As per the approved Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) map, the site when the road was built is classified as CRZ 1A (turtle nesting ground) and road-laying for anything other than activities requiring shorefront facilities are prohibited under the CRZ Notification, 2011.
IH Sekhar, who has been fighting against unauthorised constructions in Injambakkam village for the past two decades and filed at least a dozen PILs before the Madras High Court, claimed that there are demolition orders passed by the High Court way back in 2008 against several structures built in violation of CRZ rules in Injambakkam. "A partial demolition drive was conducted in 2009. Now, this road is being laid to legitimise the existing unauthorised buildings and was being done with full cooperation from officials."
Pooja Kumar of Coastal Resource Centre, an NGO working for protection of coastal communities, says laying of such illegal roads on the Chennai coast was nothing new.
"We did a documentation of illegal roads in 2015 between Thiruvanmiyur and Muttukadu based on information received from the Chennai corporation through RTI. It was revealed that 5.8 km of such roads were laid. Taking advantage of these illegally constructed roads and the corporation's own complicity in the violation, property owners on the landward side of these roads have constructed buildings and availed sanitation, water and other public infrastructure. This has led to intense urbanisation and increased density of built-up space in the sensitive and vulnerable coastal area," she said.
How these illegal roads aid realtors
1. The latest CRZ notification, issued on December 28, 2018 has de-frozen floor space index (FSI) and permitted construction projects in areas falling under CRZ-II (Urban) by allowing FSI as prevailing on the date of the new notification.
2. Chennai falls under CRZ-II area up to Uthandi on East Coast Road.
3. As per CRZ-2 of the notification, construction of buildings is permitted on the landward side of the existing road or on the landward side of existing authorised structures.
4. In many areas, illegal roads are constructed on the seaward side to aid authorised construction on the landward side of the road.