CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Friday ordered the State as well as the TANGEDCO to respond to a plea moved by fishermen of Thiruvallur alleging the conveyor belt under construction at the Ennore Thermal Plant is encroaching into waterbodies used for fishing in villages.
They alleged the construction is being carried out in violation of the environmental clearance obtained.
The issue pertains to Selvaraj Duraiswamy, a fisherman of Kattukuppam, seeking for the court to restrain the power authorities concerned to stop the land-filling as part of the construction, which was not included in the original design.
The petitioner also said, “The Konamudukku mangroves are among the last remaining healthy stands of mangroves that serve as a nursery to restock the waters with prawn, crab and fish. “If they too were to be lost to TANGEDCO’s coal conveyor corridor, Ennore’s fishers will be dealt with a death blow, and reduced from poverty to starvation.”
The seawater conveyor corridor for the Ennore SEZ project has deviated from its approved alignment to chart a course through the river and waterbodies, encroaching on mangroves and critical fish habitat, he stated in his plea.