Chennai: An activist has moved the Madras high court challenging a govt order (GO) issued by the Tamil Nadu govt, empowering urban planning authorities to grant approvals for housing layouts in hill areas and to permit land-use changes, bypassing mandatory clearance from the hill area conservation authority (HACA).Admitting the plea on Wednesday, the first bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan directed the state govt to file its response in four weeks.According to the petitioner, S Muralidharan, to protect ecologically sensitive hill regions affected by urbanisation and industrial growth, the state govt constituted HACA in 1990. Under its framework, no development activities can be undertaken in 597 identified villages without its prior approval.However, in Feb, a GO was issued empowering urban planning authorities to grant approvals for housing layouts in hill areas and to permit land-use changes, instead of requiring clearance from HACA.The petitioner contended that the order dilutes existing environmental safeguards and claimed that it could lead to ecological damage in hill regions. He sought the quashing of the GO and an interim restraint on planning authorities from approving layouts and construction in such areas based on the new order.He contended that the GO defeats the very object for which the HACA was constituted and was issued without any disclosed environmental study or scientific assessment.He further said the GO is arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution and violates the right to a clean and healthy environment, which forms part of the right to life guaranteed under Article 21, 48A & 51(A)g of the Constitution.
