On the 8th of April, the Madras High Court (HC) quashed all the notifications and rejected the requests for the building of an eight way green corridor between Chennai and Salem.
In what comes as a major blow to the current ruling party in Tamil Nadu, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK,) the Court denied the order saying, if the project was to be made, then major realignments would be required as the current route will have an adverse effect on the Government.
The bench, consisting of Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Bhavani Subbarayan, passed the order against the project proposed by the AIADMK. Apart from quashing the deals, the bench allowed the petitions which were passed by Anbumani Ramadoss, the leader of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK,) and 35 landowners who were severely affected by this project.
The 277 kilometers long eight lane project was going to be constructed as a part of the Bharatmala Pariyojana scheme launched by the Central Government. The purpose of this project was to reduce the distance between Chennai and Salem by at least two hours and 15 minutes.
While quashing the project, the Madras HC said, this project was going to be in violation of not only the Constitution, but also the principles of sustainable development.
The HC’s verdict comes as a major sense of victory not only to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK,) the opposition party in Tamil Nadu, but also to the various farmers who were going to be affected by the project. Farmers from five districts around Northern Tamil Nadu were opposing this project as it would have destroyed all the farmlands in the ecologically sensitive areas.
Lauding the HC for taking a decision like this and for aligning with AIADMK’s thoughts on the same, Stalin said this move had to be made.
With only days to go for the Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu, this ruling by the High Court comes as a setback to the ruling party in Tamil Nadu right now.
Starting from the 11th of April and lasting till the 19th of May, the Lok Sabha elections for Tamil Nadu’s 39 seats are going to be held in the 2nd phase, on the 18th of April.
The results of the Lok Sabha elections are going to be declared on the 23rd of May.
Stay tuned for more updates.
