HC notice to Centre, TN govt on PIL against Jaya memorial

The Madras High Court today sought the response of the Centre and Tamil Nadu government to a PIL which seeks to quash an order of a state authority giving permission for the proposed memorial for late chief minister J Jayalalithaa on the Marina Beach front here.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice P T Asha directed the state government and the Union Environment Ministry to file by June 29 their replies to the petition, which claimed the permission had been given without obtaining any clearance from the ministry.

It also ordered petitioner S Doraisamy, an advocate, to file his rejoinder to the counter thereafter and posted the matter for further hearing to July 13.

The petitioner claimed that the memorial site fell within Clause 8(I) of CRZ I of the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 2011 issued by the environment ministry.

However, the member secretary of the state Coastal Zone Management Authority and Director of Environment had granted permission by a March 16 order on the basis that the site fell within Clause 8(II) of CRZ II of the notification.

Hence it was wrong, the petitioner contended.

There was no report from the authorised authority classifying the area as CRZ II, he said.

He also claimed that within two days of the Public Works Department filing the application, the official had given the approval for the memorial without obtaining any clearance from the Union Environment ministry and the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA).

Also, no recommendation was sought from the State Level Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) under Environment Protection Act, the petitioner contended.

He further said Marina, with a length of 13 km, including a 6km promenade, was considered the world's second longest urban beach. The memorial involved a total project area of 9.09 acres, he said.

During the previous hearing on June 18, the Chief Justice in her oral observations had said that in her opinion no construction should be taken up as the Marina beach was a pride of not only Tamil Nadu but the entire country.

The state government had last month launched the work on the memorial, modelled on a phoenix, symbolising Jayalalithaa's grit and political come backs.

It would be surrounded by landscaped gardens and house the mausoleum of Jayalalithaa, who died on December 5, 2016.