Respond on plea to restrain from planting Tar at Nilgiris, TN told

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court had directed the state government to file its response within two weeks in a petition filed for a direction to restrain the state from establishing a tar mixture plant at Pandalur Hatti in The Nilgiris.

The first division bench of Acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy passed the direction on hearing a petition filed by G Ramanujam, a resident of Pandalur Hatti.

The petitioner submitted that due to the existence of the Tar Mixture Plant in Poker’s Colony of Pandalur Hatti, several people are affected with health hazards like breathing issues, skin diseases, cancer, etc., due to the emission of smoke from a bitumen tar mixture plant.

He further said that a second such industry was also established and the same has been functioning against the environmental laws and the TN Reservation of Private Forest Act, of 1949.

“The said industries are functioning in a gross violation of guidelines of the National Green Tribunal. The respondents did not even get the concurrence of the competent authority as per the Act,” the petitioner submitted through his counsel.

He further argued that though many representations were made to the district administration and forest authorities, no action was taken against the tar mixture plant. “Due to the tar units, the water and land of Pandalur village were highly contaminated,” the petitioner added. Recording the submissions, the bench directed the state to file its response within two weeks.