The Tamil Nadu Housing Board had violated the stipulated conditions and fixed its site boundary for a mixed use complex at Arumbakkam inside the Cooum course and the river width had been “reduced grossly” to 40 m abutting the site between the Inner Ring Road Bridge and the Naduvankarai Bridge, a joint committee appointed by the southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal has said in its report.
The committee said the PWD’s no-objection certificate for the project had emphasised that a minimum offset of 15 metres from the revenue boundary of the river should be provided devoid of construction of permanent buildings or structures.
The committee found that as per the orders passed by the tribunal earlier, a notice had been served to halt the construction till final orders were issued, but the construction work was in progress in defiance of the order.
The TNHB submitted before the tribunal that if any interim order of status quo or injunction restraining it from proceeding with the construction work was ordered, it would result in cost escalation.
“Protecting the environment, especially riverine ecology against encroachment is a priority to be given by the Tribunal comparing to the cost escalation, if any that is likely to be caused, if construction work is postponed for a particular period,” the Bench said. The Bench stayed construction of the buildings for two weeks, except for the removal of debris dumped in the river bed. The Bench directed the joint committee to submit if the survey was done on the basis of original revenue records and the PWD to file an independent report as to whether the boundary was fixed by the Survey Department.
The Bench asked the committee to inspect the area again and submit a report to find out whether its recommendations had been complied with by the TNHB and the debris removed from the river bed.