Is Wetland Authority accountable to government or construction companies, asks Anbumani

PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Tuesday criticised the Tamil Nadu government on the delay in notifying the Pallikaranai marshland as a wetland and demanded that all wetlands in the State be notified.

In a statement, he said the Tamil Nadu State Wetland Authority (TNSWA) had informed the Madras High Court that the extent of the buffer zone (Zone of Influence) around the Pallikaranai marshland had been reduced to 316 acres. “The Wetland Authority has been refusing to notify wetlands, including Pallikaranai, but its speed in reducing the buffer zone apparently to ensure that construction companies do not suffer any business losses raises a serious question: is the Authority working for the Government or for construction companies?”

The TNSWA had filed a counter affidavit in the case filed by certain private construction companies, which sought the quashing of the National Green Tribunal’s order dated September 24 last year, which prohibited construction activities within a one-kilometre radius of the Pallikaranai marshland. “In its counter affidavit, the Tamil Nadu State Wetland Authority stated that, at a meeting held with officials from various departments on September 30, 2026, it had been decided to reduce the buffer zone around the Pallikaranai marshland from the 8,397 acres identified by the National Green Tribunal to just 316 acres,” he said. While he supports determination of buffer zone around the wetlands, Dr. Anbumani said it should be “scientifically determined”.

“The Wetland Authority has moved with lightning speed to reduce the buffer zone in order to protect the interests of construction companies, which claim that their businesses have been affected by the National Green Tribunal’s order issued a year ago. Why, then, has the Authority shown no similar urgency in implementing the Supreme Court’s judgment of December 11, 2024, which directed that the boundaries of the Pallikaranai marshland be surveyed and officially notified to protect it from decades of degradation? Is protecting the interests of private construction companies more important than protecting the Pallikaranai marshland?”

He said: “The Tamil Nadu government must immediately take steps to notify Pallikaranai and all wetlands across Tamil Nadu. The government must also immediately abandon the work to construct a six-foot-high protective wall extending three kilometres around the Pallikaranai marshland and a two-kilometre-long walkway.”