TN Forms Expert Panel to Protect Thamaraikani Waterbody in Sholinganallur

The Tamil Nadu government on Friday informed the Madras High Court that it has constituted an expert committee to protect the sprawling Thamaraikani waterbody in Sholinganallur from encroachments.

Appearing before the first Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan, Additional Advocate General P.V. Balasubramaniam submitted that the expert body was set up a week earlier. The waterbody is located opposite the Infosys campus in Sholinganallur.

The submission was made during the hearing of a public interest litigation petition filed in 2019 by anti-corruption organisation Arappor Iyakkam, represented by its managing trustee Jayaram Venkatesan. The petition initially challenged the construction of a building for the Semmenchery police station on the waterbody.

Following the original filing, the petitioner organisation amended its prayer to demand the removal of all other encroachments on the site. Arappor Iyakkam sought directions compelling the government to evict encroachers and restore the waterbody to its original state.

The court was informed that the Thamaraikani tank is part of Periya Eri, a mosaic of waterbodies that also includes Valaleri and Velalkani tank. According to the Public Works Department tank memoir, Thamaraikani tank originally covered 13.47 hectares and provided irrigation to around 250 acres. However, the site has faced extensive encroachments by both private and government institutions.

The Additional Advocate General told the bench that apart from the police station building, whose opening was stayed by the High Court in 2019, the area contains an electricity sub-station, an Aavin milk factory, and a government higher secondary school situated adjacent to each other. He noted that these existing public institutions required protection.

The law officer stated that the government had secured the existing area of the waterbody by demarcating its boundaries, while the newly formed expert body has been tasked with recommending measures to prevent future encroachments.

After recording the submissions, the judges granted the government four weeks to file a comprehensive status report. The court also directed the expert committee to consider recommendations from Arappor Iyakkam regarding the preservation of the waterbody.