Notify Pallikaranai under Wetlands Rules, 2017: Sowmiya Anbumani

PMK leader Sowmiya Anbumani.

PMK floor leader Sowmiya Anbumani on Tuesday urged the Tamil Nadu State Wetlands Authority to immediately notify Pallikaranai marshland under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, and include all 65 water bodies flowing into the marshlands within its zone of influence.

In a letter submitted to Rakesh Kumar Jageniya, Member Secretary, Tamil Nadu State Wetlands Authority in Chennai, Ms. Sowmiya demanded that the newly constructed compound wall and walkway on the marshland be removed.

Aerial view of Pallikaranai marshland, a Ramsar site.

“Construction companies planning to build large structures in the zone of influence of Pallikaranai Ramsar Wetland appear to want to block the waterways that bring water to the wetland and prevent the flow of water so that they can construct buildings. Several major construction companies have already built structures over drainage channels, leaving passages beneath the buildings for water to flow. The CMDA’s approval of buildings over natural drainage channels and waterways is itself a serious violation of the law,” she charged.

Major construction companies are reportedly planning to encroach upon areas surrounding the 65 water bodies in the Pallikaranai watershed, as well as the channels through which the water flows. “This could well be the real reason why construction companies are demanding a reduction in the area designated as the zone of influence of the wetland. A wetland and its zone of influence are not the same. Under the 2017 Rules, permanent construction is prohibited within the notified wetland boundary. The same blanket prohibition does not apply to the zone of influence outside the wetland,” she said.