CHENNAI: A three-member citizen panel wrote to the Chief Justice of Madras High Court, the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary urging them to investigate the alleged violations committed by TANGEDCO in Ennore, which compromised the ecology and caused loss of livelihood for local fishermen.
The panel, comprising Prof S Janakarajan, singer and activist TM Krishna, and G Sundarrajan of Poovulagin Nanbargal, had visited Ennore recently and cautioned the government that TANGEDCO’s exposure to liabilities, arising from its reckless violation of laws in Ennore, will place a substantial burden on the exchequer.
“We are appealing to the Chief Justice because TANGEDCO has functioned as if it is above the law for all these years, and its pollution in Ennore has hurt the poor, including women fishers who hand-pick prawns from the river. They need to be compensated for lost livelihoods and health,” the panel said.
Already, the wetlands in Ennore have lost more than 1,500 acres of its water spread to industrial activities, including coal yards, petroleum terminals, thermal power plant facilities and ash ponds. More than 1,000 acres of the Kosasthalai River is choked with coal ash, claimed activists.
Recently, questions were raised on TANGEDCO’s construction of a bridge to carry coal ash slurry pipelines from NCTPS Stage III to an ash dyke in Sepakkam Village and construction of a coal conveyor and seawater corridor from Kamarajar Port to the Ennore SEZ project. The panel said both projects violated several environmental norms.
The coal-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. This project lacks a valid Consent to Establish under Air and Water Acts, and is in violation of the EIA Notification, 2006, CRZ Notification, 2011.
Activists urged the government to step in, verify their claims and remedy the situation to ensure that TANGEDCO stops all work on the construction of the conveyor belt for the Ennore SEZ, removes all dumped material and restore the river to its original state. They also asked the government to compensate fisherfolk, including Irular and SC women and men who handpick prawns and crabs, for loss of livelihood due to contamination of the Ennore Creek. Rajesh Lakhoni, CMD of TANGEDCO, refuted the allegations and said no construction works were carried out without proper permissions.