The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave its nod to the Chief Minister M K Stalin led the DMK government’s off-shore 134 feet tall “Pen monument” in memory of late chief minister and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi at the Marina Beach near the Muthamil Kalaignar Karunanidhi memorial.
Dismissing the petition by Nallathambi appearing for the fishermen and the former Fisheries Minister in the AIADMK government, D Jayakumar, being devoid of merit, a bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, however, permitted them to approach any other authority.
The petitioners had sought to stall the construction of Pen Monument, projecting the environmental concerns and the livelihood of the fishermen.
Opposing the petitions, senior advocate P Wilson argued that the petition was devoid of any merits and that coastal regulation clearance had been obtained for the memorial.
Wilson told the bench that the proposed memorial would cause no distress to the fisherman or adversely impact the Olive turtles.
Describing the plea by former minister Jayakumar as politically motivated and devoid of any public interest, Wilson told the bench that in 2018, then AIADMK government had refused to grant 6 feet of burial ground to Dr. Kalaignar (as Karunanidhi was addressed) and now they’re opposing the construction of Pen memorial.
Seeking direction to the Tamil Nadu government and the Ministry of Environment to withdraw the decision to construct the monument as it could damage the ecosystem, the petitioners had alleged that all the departments of the state government gave clearance for the proposed monument in breach of the statutory regimes governing the environment protection.
The plea had said, “The expert opinions suggest that the devastating floods faced in recent years in Tamil Nadu are the immediate result of uncontrolled construction activities on sea shores and unscrupulous trespass into the natural path of backwaters.
The monument, estimated to cost Rs 80 crore, could further affect the coastline and will impact the fish population since Marina Beach is an area which has a high-accretion rate (accumulation of sand).