CHENNAI: MADRAS High Court has directed the authorities concerned to make alternative arrangements for flood forecast stations in the State.
It appears that Tamil Nadu does not have any flood forecast stations (FFSs), though 14 such stations are being proposed. "Thus, till such FFSs are set up, in the short term, some alternative arrangements would have to be made," the first bench of Chief Justice SK Kaul and Justice R Mahadevan said.
The bench was passing further interim orders on a batch of PILs from Rajiv Rai and Manuneedhi Consumer and Environmental Protection Centre and a suo-motu PIL praying for a direction to the government to implement the Disaster Management Plan and clear encroachments on water bodies, including Cooum, Buckingham and Adyar rivers.
The bench directed the Committee of the State Disaster Management Authority, which has formulated the plan to set up FFSs, to examine the suggestions of the petitioners within four weeks and if found appropriate, incorporate them in its plan. "Thereafter, as suggested by the Assistant Solicitor General, the plan along with the suggestions of the petitioner, which are not found feasible, would be forwarded to the National Disaster Management Authority for its inputs within two weeks," the bench said.
As regards eviction of encroachments along the three rivers, the bench was told that there were 55,000 such encroachments and only 4,134 were removed. As many as 8,000 tenements are readily available to accommodate the displaced. More and more tenements are coming up. The bench said encroachment was enormous, going by its sheer number, and the government would have to take expeditious steps for their early removal by construction of alternative tenements. Petitioner's suggestion of erecting barricades should be done when the encroachments are removed, the bench said.
The bench also said till the encroachments were removed along the rivers, there has to be a more realistic assessment of the excess water to be released from the reservoirs, keeping in mind the current capacity of the rivers with the encroachments. The matter would be taken up again on January 30.