Madras High Court adjourns Pallikaranai construction ban cases to August 20
The Madras High Court has adjourned cases challenging a National Green Tribunal ban on construction near the Pallikaranai marshland until August 2026. The court expressed a desire to balance environmental protection with infrastructure development while determining the wetland's 'zone of influence'.
Why it matters
This case highlights the ongoing tension between urban infrastructure expansion and the preservation of critical ecological zones like Ramsar sites.
The Madras High Court, on Tuesday, adjourned to August 20, 2026, the hearing on a batch of cases, including the one filed by CREDAI-Chennai chapter, challenging the ban imposed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on new construction approvals on 8,584.44 acres of land located within a distance of 1 km around the boundaries of Pallikaranai marsh land, a Ramsar site.
First Division Bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan said they were inclined to set aside the blanket ban imposed by the NGT even before the determination of the ‘zone of influence’ around the wetland. They, however, did not want the lifting of the ban by the court to be mistaken as licence for indiscriminate constructions around the marshland.
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