Special Projects Act puts TN waterbodies in danger

CHENNAI: The irony of evicting thousands of families from the banks of waterbodies has not stopped the Revenue and Disaster Management Department from bringing into force the Tamil Nadu Land Consolidation (for Special Projects) Act, 2023, which allows projects on land parcels that have waterbodies, channels or streams.

The Act, which was brought into force from October 18, allows project proponents to hand over land in another place as an alternative if the project land has waterbodies or streams. And if any project is declared as a 'special project', it can be implemented even on waterbodies.

Incidentally, the department has notified the Rules and date of commencement of the Act barely a few days after the Madras High Court directed the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department to issue circulars to prevent constructions on waterbodies.

When it was enacted on April 21, 2023, several environmental activists and farmers’ organisations had opposed it, warning that the Act would take away the rights of the people, farmers, and cattle on waterbodies, grazing land and public lands.

Going a step ahead, Poovulagin Nanbargal, an environmental organisation, alleged that it would make land acquisition for projects such as Parandur greenfield airport easier even though waterbodies are present.

However, the Revenue Department justified the Act stating land is governed by various statutes such as local body Acts and that the multiplicity of executive instructions and references to land in multiple laws lead to delay and uncertainty in the consolidation of lands, leading to time and cost overruns and results in loss of public money.

In August 2023, Governor RN Ravi accorded his consent to the Act, following which a gazette notification was issued. In addition to notifying the date of the Act coming into effect, the department has also issued a separate notification to notify Tamil Nadu Land Consolidation (for Special Projects) Rules, 2024, for implementation of the Act.

As per the rules, the project proponents should ensure that the overall storage of water in the project land is not reduced, and also make sure that the carrying capacity of the canal or any other arrangements for the flow of water is not diminished in any manner both upstream or downstream of the project land.

The Rules allow the project proponent to prepare land consolidation proposals, which will be discussed by the expert committee. The committee will publish the details of the proposal in newspapers and conduct public hearings, and then propose a land consolidation scheme. Once the government approves the scheme, it will be published in the gazette.

M Vetriselvan, an advocate part of Poovulagin Nanbargal, said the Act would make it easier to get environmental clearances for projects that are implemented on waterbodies.

He explained that there was a standing order (26-A) of the Board of Revenue to declare any private land as a waterbody in the case of waterbodies changing their extent and course due to natural events in the course of time. As per the order, the owner of the land would get land in another location as compensation.

In May 2022, an amendment was made in the standing order to allow owners of patta lands to use waterbodies or streams as approach paths if the patta lands do not have access. “The standing order was not a 'matter of right' to the land owners. The new Act, however, would give the right to the project proponents that have waterbodies on project lands to utilise them for another purpose,” he pointed out.

Noting how 90 per cent of the waterbodies in the State are maintained by Public Works Department, he alleged that the main objective of the Act was to transfer their ownership and management to the project proponents, including private companies. By allowing project proponents to maintain the waterbodies within the project land, the Act would be indirectly privatising waterbodies, Vetriselvan added.

“Also, the Rules will allow the project proponents to destroy one or more waterbodies by increasing the holding capacity of another waterbody so as to keep the overall storage capacity within the project land the same," he added.

Organisations like Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam have also warned that the Act would also seize the rights of farmers over the waterbodies, as they could not take any decision on the utilisation of the water they store, a right ensured by the Tamil Nadu Farmers Management of Irrigation Systems Act, 2000.