CHENNAI: A petition has been filed in the Madras High Court seeking to quash a 2023 government order (GO) granting administrative sanction for the Chennai Greenfield International Airport project through the TIDCO for acquisition, alienation and reclassification of waterbodies including the Vyleri irrigation tank.
The petitioner, G Subramniyan of Kancheepuram, said the total project area, as per the GO, is 5,747 acres, out of which, 576.74 hectares are classified irrigation tanks and waterbodies including Vyleri tank and Kali Eri. The tanks are the lifeline for hundreds of small and marginal farmers who depend exclusively on them for irrigation and agriculture. Their obliteration for a commercial infrastructure project would permanently destroy the agrarian ecosystem, affecting food security, ecology and the right to livelihood of rural communities, he said.
Subramniyan alleged that the GO is in violation of the Revenue Standing Order (RSO) 24 which prohibits alienation, assignment or reclassification of tanks, lakes and channels for non-irrigation purposes. These provisions have statutory force, ensure the permanence of waterbodies and any act contrary there is ultra vires.
He also said the GO is in violation of Article 21 of the Constitution that provides for right to life and livelihood and violation of Article 14 due to arbitrariness.
An environmental impact assessment clearance cannot authorise alienation of tanks prohibited under the local laws. It is also in violation of Article 48 A and 51 A (g) of the Constitution which mandates the state to protect and improve the environment and safeguard waterbodies and impose a fundamental duty upon every citizen to protect the environment, the petitioner said. The petitioner has sought a stay on all further proceedings pursuant to the 2023 GO, besides quashing it as it relates to acquisition, alienation or reclassification of Vyleri irrigation tank, Kali Eri, and other waterbodies in Ekanapuram village near Parandur.
When the plea came up for hearing before the first bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan, both the petitioner and the respondents sought adjournment. The bench adjourned the hearing to January 5.