CHENNAI: The southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday questioned some of the 'suppressed' facts in the joint-committee report relating to the proposed construction of twin fishing harbours inside the ecologically sensitive and biologically rich Kaliveli estuary in Chengalpattu-Villupuram districts.
The tribunal extended its status quo order by another 10 days. The tribunal, comprising judicial member justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and expert member K Satyagopal, said Tamil Nadu fisheries department, in 2016, issued a notification in Tamil Nadu gazette notifying several areas along the coast of Tamil Nadu as Olive Ridley turtle nesting grounds.
Azhagankuppam village in Villupuram, where one of the twin fishing harbours is proposed, is a notified nesting site, which the joint-committee failed to report to the tribunal. "Why has the committee not taken into consideration the gazette notification?" asked the tribunal.
The three-member joint committee was constituted by the NGT with a specific instruction to find out whether the project area falls under the CRZ-1A (restricted intertidal area) as per Coastal Regulation Zone notification, 2011, and whether the area has been notified as Olive Ridley turtle nesting ground.
In the report submitted to the tribunal, the committee claimed, during the visit, it did not see any live Olive Ridley turtle nesting area in the proposed project sites, except for some old nesting sites at sand dunes area, located outside the project implementing area. Also, the project area is not classified as CRZ-1A as per the approved Coastal Zone Management Plan maps, it said.
Sources in the forest department in Villupuram told TNIE, during this turtle nesting season, 14,000 eggs were collected from Azhagankuppam, Vasavankuppam, and other areas in the districts. "So far, we have released 7,000 hatchlings and more will be released soon," a senior forest official said.
The counsel of petitioner M Yuvadeeban, a naturalist, told the tribunal when the joint-committee visited the project area, there were fresh turtle tracks and a live nest at a place where the fisheries department proposed to build a training wall to create a navigation channel for the fishing vessels to enter Kaliveli estuary.
The committee also noticed turtle activity in Alamparaikuppam, where the other road for the other fishing harbour is proposed. "The committee also witnessed the presence of hundreds of migratory birds in the area, but surprisingly none of it was included in the report," he said.
The petitioner and his counsel accompanied the committee during the visit and took photos of the turtle tracks with GPS coordinates, which will be filed along with the objections to the committee’s report, according to sources.
The petitioner's counsel also contested the fisheries department has not obtained a 'Consent to Establish' from TN Pollution Control Board and a CRZ clearance from the Union environment ministry, which are mandatory to be obtained before commencement of harbour works.
The tribunal, after hearing the arguments representing the fisheries department, the Union environment ministry, and the petitioner, decided to extend the status quo order till April 18. The bench also directed the forest department to submit turtle nesting data of all five years in Villupuram and Chengalpattu location wise.