MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Friday ordered the removal of a canteen that was being constructed by a church in a prohibited area within the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) near the fish landing centre at Uvari village in Tirunelveli.
A bench of justices Anita Sumanth and C Kumarappan passed the order on two petitions filed seeking the removal of the canteen. According to V Arasu, one of the petitioners and a member of the village's welfare committee, the priest of the local parish was building a canteen within the prohibited distance of 50 to 500 metres from the High Tide Line.
During the construction, the poles used to halt fibre boats were destroyed, he alleged, adding that despite repeated objections from the villagers and fishermen, the church went ahead with the construction.
The tahsildar of Thisayanvilai taluk and the assistant director of fisheries department of Tirunelveli issued proceedings last month, warning the church to stop the construction works, but it ended in vain. However, the authorities did not take any stringent action against the same, he added.
If the canteen is necessary for the fisherfolk, the church should have consulted them instead of spending funds collected from them to its whims and fancies, he said, and sought a direction to stop the works and remove the unauthorised construction forthwith.
In the previous hearing, the bench had ordered status quo and sought a response from the authorities. Hearing the case again on Friday, the judges directed the Thisayanvilai tahsildar and the fisheries department to remove the canteen within two weeks and take similar action against other violations in the zone, if any.