Madras High Court to Hear Challenge Against NGT's 1 km Construction Ban at Pallikaranai

The Madras High Court has listed for final hearing on August 3, 2026, a petition challenging the National Green Tribunal's (NGT) blanket ban on construction within one kilometre of the Pallikaranai marshland, a Ramsar site. The court accepted a request from the Chennai chapter of CREDAI, the developers' association, for an early hearing, citing the ban's impact on thousands of landowners across several neighbourhoods.

The NGT's September 2025 order prohibited any building activity in a 3,474-hectare zone around the marshland. According to the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), 84.2% of that area—about 2,924 hectares—is already densely populated with existing structures. The CMDA told the court that many of these developments predate the marshland's 2022 designation as a Ramsar site, an internationally recognised wetland of importance.

The CMDA and the Tamil Nadu State Wetland Authority (TNSWA) argued that the one-kilometre 'zone of influence' should not be fixed without completing a scientific Integrated Management Plan (IMP). The TNSWA stated that determining the zone requires hydrological assessments, field verification, and other ecological studies, and cannot be predetermined. The CMDA added that a blanket ban before finalising the zone has caused severe hardship, with 47 pending planning permissions at CMDA and many more with other civic bodies.

CREDAI, represented by senior counsel P.S. Raman, clarified it is not opposed to preserving the 1,247.54-hectare marshland itself, but objects to what it calls an arbitrary ban. Raman argued that the 'zone of influence' could vary from zero to one kilometre depending on scientific findings, and imposing a uniform ban before such studies is unjust.

The case highlights the tension between environmental protection and urban development in Chennai. The court's decision is awaited.