NGT Reverses CRZ Clearance Issued for Ennore Groynes Project in Southern India

The environmental regulatory authority in India, the National Green Tribunal, has overruled the Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) clearance for the construction of groynes, a rigid hydraulic structure built perpendicularly from an ocean shore or a riverbank, interrupting water flow and limiting the movement of sediment, in Ennore, Chennai.

The Tamil Nadu State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) and the Public Works Department (PWD) granted the clearance a few years ago to start the construction of around 19 groynes from Ennore to Ernavoor Kuppam in Madhavaram for ₹39 crores.

CH Balamohan, a petitioner, says the coastal area in the region has been affected a lot owing to the construction of such heavy structures because these groynes are built perpendicular to the coastline to thwart sea erosion.

He further added that such constructions on the coastline would have repercussions and affect natural processes, the environment and society.

In his petition, he also referred to how such unscientific structures in Puducherry, a union territory in the southern part of India, have led to large scale coastal erosion.