Chennai: The opposition DMK has moved the Madras high court against the construction of a new Secretariat-cum-Assembly complex at Pattinapakkam planned at a cost of Rs. 1,200 crore.
Former Mylapore MLA Dha. Velu in his petition said there should be no construction within 500 metres of the sea since the area comes under the Coastal Regulation Zone. There is no information on whether permission was taken from the Coastal Zone Management Authority, he said, adding constructing the Secretariat at a congested place would affect the people. He further said the livelihood of fishermen in the area would be affected and demanded the quashing of the government order on construction of the Secretariat.
Another Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed on Monday by advocate R.S. Tamilvendan of Chennai. In his petition, he said if the Secretariat is set up in the fishing villages of Pattinapakkam, the welfare of the fishermen would be affected. He further said the scheme would also affect the poor people in the area, adding the construction would aggravate the congestion, leading to traffic snarls.
Tamilvendan said he had submitted a petition to the government on September 12 but the government had not responded to the petition. The advocate sought an interim injunction from constructing the Secretariat besides the quashing of the Government Order.
The proposal had come under fire from the Opposition and Left parties who held a demonstration against the move. PWD minister Aadhav Arjuna had stated that the Chief Minister had not taken a final decision and any project would be decided only after a Detailed Project Report.
When a scheme is announced, it is customary to get a detailed project report on the scheme and the decision would be taken after getting the report, Aadhav Arjuna said. The Chief Minister would take a decision after the project report is submitted, he said, asserting that the Chief Minister would stand by the fishermen when there is a conflict between their livelihood and the secretariat.
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