MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday directed the state government to consider and decide on the objections made by a man against laying of a state highways road in an eco-sensitive zone in Kodaikanal.
V Asokan, the general secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against the proposed road, which is to be laid from Kodaikanal via Vilpatti-Kovilpatti-Pulioor-Pethupatti.
According to Asokan, the said areas lie within the eco-sensitive zone and therefore, the proposed road is in violation of the guidelines issued by the Hill Area Conservation Authority (HACA).
He also pointed out that there is an existing road connecting Kodaikanal and Palani via Vilpatti-Kovilpatti-Narthanthotti-Vengalavayal-Bharathi Anna Nagar-Pethuparai-Perumal Malai, which covers a distance of 18 km. Moreover, a copy of the India survey map from Palani Hill Conservation Council reveals that an alternative pathway from Vilpatti has been notified and the same has been repaved and is fit for use now, he added.
Yet, the authorities have taken a hurried decision to lay the proposed road without conducting a field inspection or obtaining permission from the forest department, Asokan alleged. Though I sent a detailed representation to the authorities concerned, the same is still pending for consideration, Asokan claimed, and requested the court to forbear the authorities from laying the road.
Observing that a representation cannot be kept pending by the authorities indefinitely as it amounts to dereliction of duty, a bench of Justices M S Ramesh and A D Maria Clete directed the government to consider and decide on Asokan’s representation expeditiously.