The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the State government to file a response on a public interest litigation petition that sought direction to authorities to forbear the construction of a resort within 500 metres of the High Tide Line of coastal zone in Kannirajapuram, Kadaladi taluk, Ramanathapuram district.
A Division Bench of Justices V. Bharathidasan and S. Ananthi sought a report from the Tamil Nadu Coastal Zone Management Authority. The petitioner, P. Suyambu Lingam of Kadaladi in Ramanathapuram district, said that a private company, Kaviyan Constructions, was building a resort within 500 metres of the High Tide Line.
He said that Kannirajapuram village panchayat consisted of nine hamlets with a population of 8,524 residents. In Dharmakartha Kudiyiruppu hamlet, there was a coastal road to the extent of two km connecting East Coast Road to the Gulf of Mannar. It was the only access for local residents to the nearby temple, school, college and burial ground.
Under these circumstances, the private company had blocked the pathway used by the local people by constructing a compound. The company encroached lands beyond the patta lands that belonged to the company. The resort was within 300 metres of the shore. Therefore, the lands fell within the Coastal Regulation Zone category.
No construction was permitted within 500 metres of the High Tide Line without the approval of Coastal Zone Management Authority. The lands were located close to ecologically sensitive area such as the Gulf of Mannar Marine Park. Therefore, the authorities should forbear the company from putting up construction within 500 metres of the High Tide Line, he said.
