Development works on bunds of Vandiyur, Thenkal tanks: Judges take divergent views

Madras High Court directs Registry to place papers before Chief Justice for appropriate orders on petitions pertaining to implementation of projects involving formation of roads on bunds of Vandiyur & Thenkal tanks in Madurai.

After two judges of a Division Bench of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court took divergent views on a batch of petitions pertaining to implementation of projects involving formation of roads on the bunds of Vandiyur and Thenkal tanks in Madurai, the High Court Registry was directed to place the papers before the Chief Justice for appropriate orders.

A Division Bench of Justices G. R. Swaminathan and B. Pugalendhi was hearing the petitions filed by R. Manibharathi of Madurai who had sought a direction to the authorities to restore the two tanks.

In his order, Justice G.R. Swaminathan observed that in the last 50 years Madurai has seen the disappearance of many waterbodies. The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court itself was built on Ulaganeri lake and the District Court was no exception.

The judge observed that there was a large tank in Avaniapuram. The Tamil Nadu Housing Board had put up apartments there. The Corporation Eco Park was created after destroying a tank. Many government buildings had come up on kanmois (waterbodies).

The residents are witness to the fact that there has been a substantial encroachment on the Vaigai river bed by the construction of the link road, the judge observed.

The deity of development is not yet satiated. She wants to gobble up more and more of nature. The recent battering which Tamil Nadu got from Mother Nature has not sufficiently driven the lessons home. Integrity of waterbodies is as important as national integrity, the court observed and granted an interim injunction on the works being carried out on the bunds of the tanks.

However, Justice B. Pugalendhi observed that in reality, most waterbodies were surrounded by bushes and prosopis juliflora which was used by anti-social elements for illegal activities like drug peddling. There was also open defecation.