17 hours ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Semmencherry police station on waterbody: Madras HC seeks original master plan
CHENNAI: Talking tough against reclassifying waterbodies for other purposes without following the relevant laws, the Madras High Court on Thursday sought the respondent authorities to produce the original master plan to find out whether the Semmencherry police station was constructed on a waterbody land.
The first bench, comprising Chief Justice Manindra Kumar Shrivastava and Justice Sunder Mohan, granted a week's time for producing the original master plan when the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition filed by Arappor Iyakkam in 2019 on the issue came up for hearing.
Stating that the original master plan had cited the land as waterbody but it was argued that the revenue records did not have entries to show it as a waterbody, the bench questioned Additional Advocate General J Ravindran, how can you disown the master plan. 'The master plan can be rectified only in the manner known to the law. Which law entitles them (CMDA) to reclassify the waterbody as institutional zone,' the bench questioned.
It further noted that the state and the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) are making contradictory submissions on the issue. 'Once master plan is made, everybody is bound by it as long as it is there. Otherwise, it will open floodgates,' the bench said.
The bench pointed out certain issues including whether it is in the jurisdiction of the CMDA to reclassify waterbody as institutional zone, and noted that the land was originally a pasture land and waterbody.
