The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday dismissed a batch of public interest litigation petitions that sought a direction to stall the Madurai Smart City Project. The petitions claimed that roads were being laid along the banks of the Vaigai and this could result in shrinking of the width of the river.

During the course of hearing, Madurai Corporation submitted that the ‘Vaigai River Front Development project’ was undertaken under the Smart Cities Mission at a cost of ₹81 crore.

The Corporation will spend ₹60 crore on beautification of the river front and the remaining ₹21 crore would be diverted to the PWD for building check dams. The beautification of the river front would not only stop garbage disposal into the river but also prevent encroachment. Also, the width of the river would be maintained, it was said.

A Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and S. S. Sundar took cognisance of the submissions and court said that there was no need to stall the project and the beautification would help maintain the Vaigai. Further, the court observed that the project should be monitored regularly by the authorities.

The public interest litigation petition was filed by K.K. Ramesh of Madurai, who alleged that the Corporation authorities in the name of Smart City Project were laying roads along the Vaigai. This would result in shrinking of the river, he said. A similar writ petition was also dismissed.