The Madras High Court on Wednesday (October 14, 2026) adjourned to November 11, 2026 a batch of cases filed against a construction ban imposed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on a one-kilometre radius around the boundaries of the Pallikaranai marshland, a Ramsar site, in Chennai.
First Division Bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan said, in the meantime, they would go through a report filed by Tamil Nadu State Wetlands Authority for declaring 36 survey numbers covering 128.19 hectares as an interim Zone of Influence (ZoI).
The judges said that they will seek clarifications, if any, regarding the declaration of an interim ZoI on the next date of hearing and then pass orders with respect to the declaration which could be enforced until the determination of a final ZoI after elaborate studies required to do so.
The case was adjourned after hearing the arguments of Additional Advocates General P.V. Balasubramaniam and T. Gowthaman for TNSWA and Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority respectivley and senior counsel P.S. Raman, V. Prakash and Srinath Sridevan for CREDAI-Chennai and other writ petitioners.
Mr. Raman told the court that the interim ZoI proposed by the TNSWA was completely acceptable to all the writ petitioners before the court. He said, the TNSWA had left a sufficient buffer zone around the existing boundaries of the marshland and then identified the survey numbers which could be declared as interim ZoI.
Mr. Balasubramaniam said, the existing boundaries of the marshland itself by itself was not final and that the actual area of the marshland may shrink after final determination. So, the existing buffer zone and interim ZoI would ensure that sufficient extent of the land around the marsh gets protected, he said.
A map of the interim Zone of Influence proposed by the Tamil Nadu State Wetlands Authority around the Pallikaranai marshland in Chennai. It was submitted before the Madras High Court. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
In its latest report filed before the High Court and served on the writ petitioners, the TNSWA had stated the interim ZoI could cover survey numbers 283 and 284(P) in Enjambakkam village, 175(P), 177 and 189 in Karappakkam village and 407(P) in Okkiyam Thoraipakkam village of Sholinganallur Taluk.
Further, it could cover survey numbers 23(1A,2), 429/3, 431/2(P), 55 (1D2, 1E2, 1F2, 1G2, 2A2, 2B2, 2C2, 2D2), 658/1B, 657 (1A, 3A1, 3A3, 3A4, 3F, 3G, 3H, 3I, 3J, 3K, 4A3), 657/3A5, 688(P), 690(P), 691, 80, 658/1A(P), 657/4C, 657/1B3, 657/1A(P), 657/3A2, 657/3B, 453/2C, 432/1, 430, 429/2, 433, 434/3 and 657/3A3 in Pallikaranai village of Sholinganallur Taluk, the report filed by TNSWA read.
Listing out the other parcels of land which could be made part of the interim ZoI, the authority said, survey numbers 57/1 in Perungudi village in Sholinganallur Taluk; survey numbers 439(P), 507/1, 527, 602/7 and 602/8 in Sholinganallur village of Sholinganallur Taluk and survey numbers 537(P), 542 (P) in Perumpakkam village in Tambaram Taluk could be mentioned in the order of the court.
The TNSWA went on to add that even within the interim ZoI, construction activities need not be banned throughout the entire zone and that it could be regulated based on site specific scientific and hydrological characteristics. It said, there could be a prohibition on blocking, diversion or obstruction of estbalished inlet and outlet channels, natural drains or hydrological pathways in the proposed interim ZoI.
Similarly, dumping of solid waste, construction waste and other waste on the drainage pathways could be prohibited and there could be a prohibition also on discharge of untreated sewage, effluents or wastewater into the watercourses connected with the wetland. Permanent alteration of established hydrological connections could also be banned and red category industries with high pollution potential could be prohibited.
“In case of construction, necessary no objection certificate shall be obtained from the district level wetlands management committee in accordance with the proposed regulatory mechanism. The proposed regulatory framework is intended to ensure that developmental activities do not obstruct the natural flow of water into or out of the Pallikaranai Ramsar site or adversely affect its ecological character together with balancing the development needs of the society and the government,” the report read.
TNSWA also told the court that the final ZoI shall be determined only after completion of scientific and cadastral exercises and ground truthing in accordance with the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 and the guidelines framed under them.
