Madras high court
A division bench of the high court comprising Justice N Sathish Kumar and Justice K Rajasekar passed the order on Aug 14 acting on a writ petition filed by S Muralidharan. Muralidharan sought cessation of commercial operations and the removal of the 154 kW floating solar plant in the Ukkadam Periyakulam.
The court said, “Considering the serious lapses noted by the Institution (SACON), we direct the authorities, first, to set right the sewage treatment plants (STPs) in Ukkadam and Valankulam lakes forthwith and prevent untreated wastewater from flowing freely into the lakes. COIMBATORE: Madras high court has directed the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation to halt all the ongoing and proposed Smart City lakefront development activities in the Ukkadam Periyakulam and Valankulam lakes as they have severely damaged the natural habitats of birds. In his petition, Muralidharan stated that the Smart City activities and use of speed boats had affected natural habitats of birds. In its report submitted to the court recently, SACON stated that Smart City lakefront developments in Coimbatore city have severely damaged natural habitats and microhabitats of wetland birds. Further developmental activities, including the ongoing and proposed projects, shall be halted until the Wetland Management Plan is implemented. ”
In December last year, the court requested Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), Coimbatore, to study if development activities at the two lakes by the Coimbatore corporation was detrimental to the birds that nest in the waterbodies.