The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Fisheries Department and the Public Works Department on a petition that complained about activities such as fish fingerlings being letting into Madakulam tank in Madurai for breeding purposes.
A Division Bench of Justices Pushpa Sathyanarayana and P. Velmurugan sought the report from officials on January 24. The authorities denied the allegation that irregular activities were taking place in the tank.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by advocate K. Suriyamoorthy of Madurai. He said that Madakulam tank was the main source of groundwater in Madurai and it was used for irrigation purposes and as a drinking water source.
Without any authority/ licence/permit, a few people slipped in fish fingerlings into the tank for breeding. In order to catch the fish, they opened the shutters and this resulted in wastage of water. The authorities must protect the tank and ensure that water was used judiciously for the purposes of irrigation and drinking water only. They should take action against those who were involved in the irregularities and wasted water, he said.
