An attempt to encroach an irrigation channel that runs through the ecologically sensitive mangroves at Thengaithittu coastal hamlet has been thwarted due to the intervention of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the District Administration.
Following a complaint filed by retired Indian Forest Service Officer P. Devaraj to the NGT Grievance Redressal Cell in May this year, the NGT directed the District Collector to constitute a committee to look into the complaint of huge destruction of mangroves by “some private entrepreneurs in connivance with the Forest Department.”
Mr. Devaraj had based his complaint on an article that appeared in Hindu Tamil Thisai in May this year about the large-scale destruction of mangroves due to the encroachments on an irrigation channel.
After the NGT direction, the District Collector constituted a committee under Sub-Collector (North) to investigate the matter. The committee had members from Municipality, Public Works Department, Revenue and Coastal Management Authority, said an official.
“The committee has found that a 300 metre long channel having a width of 4.2 meters was encroached upon by dumping gravel inside the drain and cutting around 50 mangroves. A gate was also constructed near the channel. We have served notice to the persons who have encroached in the area and two days ago we restored the channel to its original condition. A detailed report will be submitted to NGT soon,” a senior official told The Hindu. Inquires revealed that the land on either side of the irrigation channel belonged to the family of an influential politician in Puducherry. They were served notice before restoration of the irrigation channel, sources said.
According to an environmental activist, the intention of the encroachers was to destroy the mangroves by cutting the water channel. “In certain parts near the mangroves, an effort was made to appear that the land belonged to the Forest Department by painting the fencing green. The entire area should be surveyed,” he said.
The entire stretch comes under the Coastal Regulation Zone-1, he said, adding that allowing construction activity to take place in the mangrove site was in itself a grave violation. “These are all serious violations. A detailed probe should be done to bring the entire facts to the public domain,” he added.
Mr. Devaraj told The Hindu that mangroves are ecologically important and protected forest cover. “The importance of mangroves grew further after the tsunami of 2004 struck our coast when the forest cover protected the shore from tidal waves and erosion. The mangroves in Ariyankuppam prevented drifting away of huge fishing boats. The evergreen forest cover is also a habitat for birds and animals,” he said. It was very important that the government takes steps to protect and conserve the mangroves in U.T., he added.
