The Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal on Monday cleared the way for the expansion of the East Coast Road from Kudimiyandithopu near Chennai to Koonimedu on the outskirts of Puducherry.
The bench comprising Justice M.S. Nambiar and expert member P.S. Rao, dismissed the application filed by Venkatesh of T. Nagar, seeking environmental and Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearances for the stretch.
Counsel for the Tamil Nadu Road Development Corporation (TNRDC) Adbul Saleem submitted that there was no need for a separate Environment Clearance or CRZ clearance for the stretch as the right of way received in 1995 was around 40 to 45 metres.
However, the road work was done on a smaller stretch only. The expansion of the road would happen only within this existing right of way.
Project stopped earlier
The Tribunal had earlier stopped the entire project work before allowing the Tamil Nadu Road Development Corporation to undertake work till Mamallapuram. Dismissing the application, the Bench also directed the TNRDC to follow certain conditions including planting of trees along the road, planting of shrubs on the median and providing noise barriers at appropriate locations “especially in areas where the alignment passes through inhabited areas where the noise level already exceeds the permissible limit.”
Two months’ time
The Tribunal also ordered the erection of water harvesting structures at intervals of 500 m along the road within two months. “The trees of such nature, which would obstruct the lights of the vehicles towards sea side, should be planted all over the seaward side of the road without any gap. It should be completed within two months,” the Bench said.
