Residents seek clarity on building approval freeze near Pallikaranai marshland

CHENNAI: The Confederation of Sholinganallur Constituency RWA has urged the State government to intervene after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) not to grant planning or building approvals within the Ramsar site boundary of the Pallikaranai marshland and its 1-km zone of influence.

Residents said the directive had created anxiety across large neighbourhoods including Pallikaranai, Perumbakkam, Okkiyam Thoraipakkam, Perungudi and Seevaram, where lakhs of people live in approved layouts.

At a press meet on Wednesday, the association appealed to CM Stalin to issue clear guidelines and protect the rights of existing residents. “The entire Sholinganallur Assembly constituency has developed around the Pallikaranai marshland. If approvals are stopped abruptly, people who purchased CMDA-approved plots and have lived here for decades will be severely affected,” said D Raman, president of the confederation.

A statement by the association noted that the IT corridor and the expansion of Chennai’s urban limits had fuelled rapid growth in these areas over the past 20 years. “Lakhs of families relocated here because these were approved residential zones. Now their property and living rights are suddenly in question,” said secretary S Swaminatham, urging the government to provide clarity.

The association placed several demands before the government, including the withdrawal of the CMDA circular stopping approvals within the one-kilometre radius, the removal of encroachments within the marshland, and the creation of any buffer zone within the marsh boundary rather than outside it.

The concerns follow the NGT’s order of September 24, in which a Bench comprising Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and expert member Prashant Gargava directed a halt to all construction activity within one kilometre of the marshland until a comprehensive scientific study establishes the wetland’s zone of influence. The tribunal instructed CMDA, Tamil Nadu State Wetland Authority (TNSWA) and Water Resources Department (WRD) to jointly prepare the zone-of-influence map.

The case was registered suo-motu after reports highlighted the laying of a road inside the Perumbakkam marshland using construction debris. Residents said the uncertainty created by the interim restrictions must be addressed immediately to prevent hardship to thousands of homeowners.