Madras High Court to examine NGT’s construction ban on 1 km radius around Pallikaranai marshland on August 3

Published 15 July 2026 · local

The Madras High Court on Wednesday (July 15, 2206) decided to take up for final hearing on August 3, 2026, a case questioning the Green

The Madras High Court on Wednesday (July 15, 2206) decided to take up for final hearing on August 3, 2026, a case questioning the Green Tribunal’s (NGT) authority to impose a blanket ban on constructions within a radius of one kilometre from the boundaries of Pallikaranai marshland, a Ramsar site. Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan accepted a request made by senior counsel P.S. Raman, representing CREDAI-Chennai Chapter, for an early hearing of the case since it involved a ban on constructions on 3,474 hectares (8,584.44 acres) in Chennai city. He said, the NGT’s order had affected thousands of landowners in Puzhuthivakkam, Madipakkam, S. Kolathur, Pallikaranai, Jalladianpet, Perumbakkam, Arasankalani, Semmancheri, Sholinganallur, Karapakkam, Injambakkam, Okkiyam Thoraipakkam, Seevaram, Perungudi, and Velachery. Additional Advocate General P.V. Balasubramaniam, representing Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), too told the court that it had received numerous complaints regarding the applications for building plan permissions not being processed because of the NGT’s September 24, 2025 order.

The CMDA, in its additional counter affidavit, said, a ground verification using Google imagery and satellite imagery showed that 2,924 hectare (7,225 acres) out of the 3,474 hectares was already a densely populated area with several thousand buildings having already been constructed over there. Stating that buildings had been constructed on 84.2% of the area in the one-kilometre radius, the CMDA said, a major part of these developments had taken place in those localities much before the declaration of the Pallikaranai marshland, spread over 1,247.54 hectare, as a Ramsar site in 2022. The court was told that 47 planning permissions were pending with the CMDA and several others were pending with the Greater Chennai Corporation and other civic bodies. CMDA said, a blanket ban even before the finalisation of the ‘zone of influence’ around the marshland, had caused severe hardship to the landowners.

“The consideration of 1 km as ‘zone of Influence’ without completion of the due statutory procedures may not be correct,” the CMDA said and relied upon Tamil Nadu State Wetland Authority’s (TNSWA) stand that the ‘zone of the influence’ could be determined only after finalisation of the Integrated Management Plan (IMP). On its part, the TNSWA told the court that determination of ‘zone of influence’ and preparation of IMP were complex statutory exercises which would require time. “The final delineation may depend upon the outcome of scientific studies, hydrological assessments, field verification and other relevant ecological factors and cannot be predetermined at this stage,” the authority said in its status report. Referring to the submissions made by CMDA and TNSWA, Mr. Raman, assisted by P. Veena Suresh, said, CREDAI- Chennai was not against preservation of 1,247.54 hectare of Pallikaranai marshland, but was only concerned over the arbitrary construction ban imposed on a radius of one kilometre around the marshland.