CMDA issues order to ban construction in and around Pallikaranai Marshland

CHENNAI: A few days after the southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) not to grant any building plan approvals in the Pallikaranai marshland and its zone of influence, the planning authority has issued a circular reiterating the Tribunal's order.

According to the circular issued by the chief planner of Master Plan Unit (MPU), dated October 6, building permissions will not be issued within the boundary of the Ramsar recognised wetland and its influence zone up to one kilometre. Moreover, the circular also instructed the local bodies concerned to comply with the NGT order and the CMDA circular.

As per the Ramsar site and influence area map, part of Puzhuthivakkam, Madipakkam, Kulathur, Pallikaranai, Jalladianpet, Perumbakkam, Arasankalani, Semmancheri, Sholinganallur, Karapakkam, Injambakkam, Okkiyam Thoraipakkam, Seevaram, Perungudi and Velachery revenue villages have become no-construction zones.

On September 24, the NGT comprising judicial member Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and expert member Prashant Gargava issued orders to halt all construction activities within 1km of the marshland until a comprehensive scientific study identifying the wetland's zone of influence is completed. Directions have been issued to the CMDA, Tamil Nadu State Wetland Authority (TNSWA) and Water Resources Department (WRD) to coordinate the completion of the map.

The tribunal suo motu registered a case based on news articles that highlighted laying of a road inside Perumbakkam marshland using construction debris.

During the hearing, the planning authority submitted that permissions were issued based on official revenue records that listed the land as private patta within a "primary residential use zone". The CMDA further argued it had not approved projects on lands earmarked as marsh in the second master plan. However, the authority stated that it awaits precise survey data from the TNSWA to incorporate Ramsar site boundaries into the third master plan, which is in the final stages.

On the other hand, the TNSWA inspections in July 2023 found that debris was being dumped within 150m of the Ramsar site boundary, but a map prepared by Care Earth Trust recommends a 1-km buffer around the marsh. In July 2025, the TNSWA further warned that altering storm sewer inlets and drainage channels could disrupt flood water flows, exposing local communities to inundation.