Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

Court refuses to vacate stay on Tamirabarani quarrying

Staff Reporter

Constitutes a two-member committee to study ecological impact

MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday refused to vacate the stay on quarrying carried out by the State Government along the Tamirabarani riverbed in Tirunelveli and Tuticorin districts.

Passing interim orders on a batch of public interest litigation petitions alleging irregularities in the quarry sites, the first Division Bench of Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice K. Venkataraman constituted a two-member committee to study the ecological impact, if any, due to the operations and to suggest corrective measures.

The Director of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and the Vice-Chancellor of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli, were asked to appoint two experts from their faculty to the committee.

Expenses

The Bench said the expenses incurred for the study would be jointly borne by the petitioners, and the committee should submit its report before September 26.

The report would be in addition to two other reports already filed before the Bench by the advocate commissioners appointed to inspect the sites.

Political motive

Earlier during arguments, Advocate General R. Vidudhalai said the quarrying operations were carried out to clear sand dunes that had obstructed the free flow of water in the river. The dunes have to be cleared especially in the wake of the northeast monsoon which generally sets in during mid-October. He alleged that the cases had been filed with an ulterior motive. "I can demonstrate that it is purely a politically motivated litigation. But, I don't want to go into it."

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