CHENNAI: The state government has amended development regulations for sensitive aquifer recharge zones along Chennai’s coast to make way for the establishment of “white industries” in areas where previously only small-scale developments, including cottage industries, were permitted, according to a government order issued by housing and urban development department in this regard.
White industries are those industries or business activities that have negligible or no adverse impact on the environment. Earlier rules limited construction in these zones to non-high-rise buildings up to nine metres, including residential units, consulting offices (not exceeding 40 sq m), schools (not exceeding 100 sq m in floor area and G+1 floors in height), petty shops (not exceeding 40 sq m), parks, cottage industries (with number of workers not exceeding eight and electric machineries not exceeding five HP), storage facilities, hostels (not exceeding 500 sq m in floor area and G+1 floors in height), assembly halls, transport depots and public utility buildings.
The revised framework has now expanded permissible activity to include low-pollution industries such as bicycle assembly, bio-fertiliser and bio-pesticide units (without inorganic chemicals), cotton and woollen hosiery, light engineering and fabrication workshops, leather cutting and stitching, vehicle scrap collection, finished leather goods and used cooking oil collection centres.
There are 609 industries which are categorised as “white industries”. While the government has framed the policy change as part of its industrial facilitation agenda, environmentalists have raised red flags. “There should be no development in this fragile zone, which successive governments have already chipped away,” said environmental activist Nityanand Jayaraman. “Further relaxing aquifer protection rules could pose a serious ecological threat. This would result in further sea water intrusion making the groundwater unusable for drinking, irrigation and industrial purposes.”
As per the Tamil Nadu Combined Development and Building Rules, 2019, the areas which have good aquifers and recharge potential have been declared as aquifer recharge areas, which serve as one of the major sources for city water supply and have been declared as restricted for development. Villages covered in the aquifer recharge area are Kottivakkam, Palavakkam, Neelankarai, Okkiamthuraipakkam, Injambakkam, Karapakkam, Sholinganallur, Uthandi. These villages are located in southern part of Chennai.
KP Subramanian, former professor of urban engineering at Anna University, said, “Permitting white industries in aquifer recharge areas will have an adverse impact on the groundwater augmentation.”
In May, the government exempted the ‘white category’ industries from obtaining clearance from the pollution control board. An interim study by the Centre for Urbanization, Buildings & Environment (CUBE) found that the no-development zone between Thiruvanmiyur and Uthandi has shrunk by nearly 250 acres – from 1,739 acres in 2011 to 1,495 acres in 2019. This, coupled with rising construction activity, has already begun to undermine groundwater recharge capacity.CUBE warns that continued conversion of open and agricultural land into built-up areas could lower groundwater levels and accelerate sea water intrusion, threatening freshwater availability in coastal aquifers.
