CHENNAI: Flaying the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) and Chennai Corporation for failing to act against the construction by a hospital without obtaining plan approval, the Madras High Court on Tuesday penalised them with costs and directed the amount to be paid to Adyar Cancer Institute.
A division bench of justices R Subramanian and R Sakthivel, while disposing of a petition filed by senior counsel G Rajagopalan on noise pollution caused by construction of a multi-storeyed building by MGM Healthcare on St Mary’s Road in Alwarpet, imposed costs of Rs 5 lakh each on CMDA and Chennai Corporation, and Rs 2 lakh on the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board. The bench directed to recover this amount from the officials who were responsible for the delinquency. The bench also imposed Rs 25 lakh fine on MGM Healthcare for violating rules.
The bench came down strongly on the failure to crackdown unauthorised constructions and rampant corruption in granting plan approvals. Expressing concern over inadequate action to curb unauthorised constructions, the bench felt that corrupt officials were not acting against such violations, but would be hell bent on acting against a common man constructing even a small house.
The bench directed concerned authorities to keep vigil on the hospital construction and take appropriate action if violations are found. They were also instructed to file a report.
Rajagopalan had filed the petition alleging that noise pollution caused by the construction was beyond tolerable levels and affected elderly people staying in the neighbourhood. He also blamed authorities for not taking appropriate action against the hospital.