Petition Said Encroachers Are Occupying 3,500 Acres In Eco-Sensitive Area
More than 100 shrimp farms squatting ille gally on 3,500 acres of fores land on scenic but ecological ly fragile East Coast Road may have to shut shop, with the Madras high court direct ing the forest department to speedily verify the land entit lements of their owners and stop prawn culture activities completely .
The first bench compris ing Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice T S Sivagnanam on Tuesday asked the authorities to adop a twin-pronged strategy to close the farms, on a public interest writ petition filed by Nadukuppam panchaya president Vasuki Mohana Sundaram, 28. Nadukuppam is Marakkanam taluk along ECR, in Villupuram. “Action for verification of the entitlement to hold the land should be expedited and the demarcation process must proceed quickly ,“ the judges said, adding: “If the licence has been in existence, necessary action has to be taken to stop the prawn culture activity .“
Advocate R Sankarasubbu, counsel for Vasuki, demanded that aqua culture activity on 3,500 acres in the area be stopped, saying the firms did not have the mandatory permissions.
They also caused health hazards to villagers and polluted water bodies, Sankarasubbu said, adding that when it took just a day to ban harmful Maggi noodles, it should not take long for authorities to proceed against the shrimp farms, which are on encroached land. The Villupuram district forest officer told the court that the region was very ecologically sensitive and is the second largest brackish water wetland in south India. He said many land sharks had encroached upon the area, because boundaries had not been demarcated and that the process had been pending as the authorities concerned had yet to conclude work on various settlements. According to special government pleader (forests)M K Subramanian, though show-cause notices were issued to encroachers by the Tindivanam forest range officer, only two encroachers had submitted their replies and even they did not have legal ownership documents. The DFO said evictions had been made only on land of around three acres so far.
Of the more than 100 shrimp farms, 25 were issued licences by the district collector, the counter said, adding that all licences have now been declared invalid.
The judges, recording the undertaking of Subramaniam, directed that a compliance report should be filed at least three days prior to October 30, when the court will take up the case for further hearing.
