Reg. No. TN/PMG (CCR) /814/04-05 Licence No. WPP 506/04-05 Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI R.N. 53640/91 INSIDE Promoting tree culture Preserving heritage MADRAS The homes of Mylapore Flavours of South India MUSINGS Only one grabbed chance Rs. 5 per copy Vol. XV No. 14 November 1-15, 2005 (Annual Subscription: Rs. 100/-) Mumbai ruling food for Chennai thought? Appa, theyve given me an additional 1000 minutes of free talk-time... Now Ive only got to find friends to talk to! n a landmark decision on October 17th, the Bombay High I Court ruled against the sale of mill lands in Central Bombay for Talks cheap large-scale commercial development. Mobile users, persistently wooed The land belonged to five National Textile Corporation Mills and by mobile service providers, are had been sold to bidding developers. The Court ruled that one-third a happy lot today. of the land should be used for low-cost housing, another third as Phones are easily available, and open space and only the rest for commercial development. with free talk times, they can In the Bombay judgment there is much that is of relevance of chatter all night. (Right like Chennai in what has gone on, and is NOW going on apace, in the we, as a nation, need to be Adyar Estuary and its surroundings. But will anyone concerned coaxed to talk more and with building development in Chennai pay any attention to what we longer.) report below on the Mumbai case? But what will this constant THE EDITOR staying-in-touch do to us? (Compiled from reports by D. Murali) The average human was never designed to be in a state of fer- he petition in Mumbai was recent deluge during the last vent, feverish accessibility and Tfiled in the larger public in- week of July this year as the communication 24X7. Half terest, to protect the interests of context. Senior advocate I.M. the fun in having kith and kin residents of Mumbai and to im- Chagla, representing the Envi- is being able to get away from them occasionally. prove the quality of life in ronmental Action Group But now, even mundane veg- Mumbai, which has drastically (EAG), said that the main etable-shopping is no longer deteriorated during the last 15 thrust of the petition was to en- an escape route, what with years, begins the 368-page judg- sure Open Spaces for the city Muniamma getting herself a ment of Justice Dr. S. and to provide space for that cell-phone, and accepting only Radhakrishnan, along with Jus- crying need, public housing. phoned-in orders. Silence, al- tice S.C. Dharmadhikari. While it is true that in a devel- ready a mere concept in teen- The PIL (public interest liti- oping country there shall have ager-ridden homes, is forced gation) Writ Petition had the to be development, that devel- into further retreat. As for self-congratulatory roman- Bombay Environmental Action opment shall have to be in clos- tics, careful now shes prob- Group (a public charitable est possible harmony with the ably guessed that this sudden trust) and its secretary, Shyam environment, as otherwise there increase in calls and long con- H.K. Chainani, as petitioners. would be development but no versations is more about eco- The 32 respondents included environment, which would nomics than a rush of pas- the State of Maharashtra, the result in total devastation, sion. Municipal Corporation of stated Justice U.C. Banerjee in Recent reports, admittedly, kill- Greater Mumbai (MCGM), the the decision in People United for joy, warn of an increase in Maharashtra Housing and Better Living in Calcutta vs. State headaches, aggressive Area Development Authority of W.B., Chagla cited. behaviour, hypertension, and other depressing urban ill- (MHADA), and the Maha- Nature will not tolerate us nesses endemic to a chronic rashtra Pollution Control Board, after a certain degree of its de- noise environment. along with labour unions such struction and it will, in any Too voice-of-doom? Perhaps, as the Rashtriya Mill Mazdoor event, have its toll on the lives but having a little gadget yam- Sangh and the Girni Kamgar of the people, continues the mering at you all the time Karmachari Rozgar Sangha- ominous quote. Can present- ... especially in the Adyar Estuary area cant be good. tana. Apart from the NTC day society afford to have such Can you avoid cell-phones? Yes, (National Textile Corporation), a state and allow nature to take The map above dates to 1798 and shows several islands in the Adyar Estuary. if you can handle the guilt other mills too were mentioned its toll in future? Justice Note the three islands grouped together to the right in the estuary in this map. The heaped on you in this cell- biggest of them was later called Quibble Island. In the map of today (below) not only phone-enabled society. as real estate players. Banerjee had asked and replied have the three islands been merged but they have also been merged with the mainland Maybe its time to give that old The petition sought to pre- in the negative. (shaded portion at the top of the estuary). Most of that land thats been merged has tympanic membrane (okay, vent further serious damage to The tragic events in now been built over and is continuing to be built on, making what was once no showing off), your ear- the town planning and ecology Mumbai in the last week of July earmarked for a sanctuary a bit of urban development that will soon be an urban drum, some rest. so as to avoid an irretrievable 2005 have shown that the jungle. Its in this context, the Mumbai High Court ruling could well be food for Give peace a chance. breakdown of the city, and the environmental degradation in thought in Chennai. Ranjitha Ashok text of the judgment cites the (Continued on Page 2) (Also see page 3.) 2 MADRAS MUSINGS November 1-15, 2005 (Continued from page 1) more would be required to Lessons for Chennai obtain environmental clear- Mumbai has crossed natures ance from Central Govern- degree of tolerance, Chagla ment, states the Bombay High said, referring to the price that Courts judgment dated Octo- the city paid during the recent in Mumbai ruling? ber 17. deluge. It was also clarified that all The main legal issue in the new construction projects EAGs petition was the true based on relevant socioeco- mandates that the State shall January 27, 1994 (as amended where work had not come up to meaning and correct interpre- nomic considerations and the endeavour to protect and im- on July 7, 2004), issued under plinth level as on July 7, 2004 tation of Development Con- improvement of the living and prove the environment and the provisions of the Environ- required clearance under the trol Regulation (DCR) No. 58 working conditions and envi- safeguard the forests and wild- ment Protection Act, 1986 and Notification. (as amended in 2001). It is ronment as enshrined in Ar- life of the country. These two the rules thereunder. It became apparent during titled Development or redevel- ticle 21 of the Constitution of Articles form the core of the According to the Notifica- the hearing of the petition that opment of lands of cotton tex- India are followed with regard countrys environment law, tion, every new project, or ex- despite the publicity given by tile mills and begins with a dis- to all development/redevelop- stated Chagla. pansion or modernisation of the Maharashtra Pollution Con- cussion on lands of sick and/or ment on the mill lands, so as to Courts have recognised the any activity (if the pollution trol Board (MPCB) to the EIA closed cotton textile mills. The protect the interests of the resi- duty of the Government with load is to exceed the existing Notification, not a single appli- regulation stipulates the dents of Mumbai. regard to the environment. load), listed in Schedule I of the cation was made for clearance percentage of open lands and Article 21 is about Protec- For instance, the Supreme Notification requires environ- until after the issue was raised balance FSI (floor space index) tion of life and personal liberty. Court had said in the Virendra mental clearance. in the petition. Even thereafter, to be earmarked for open It states that no person shall be Gaur case, There is a Consti- For this, an application has only five applications for clear- spaces, public housing, and deprived of his life or personal tutional imperative on the State to be made, along with a project ance were received by the residential/commercial liberty except according to pro- Government and the munici- report, including an Environ- MPCB in respect of develop- purpose. cedure established by law. palities to ensure and safeguard mental Impact Assessment ment in the mill lands, the The judgment mentions 58 Enjoyment of life and its at- proper environment and also (EIA) Report, an Environmen- judgement states. as the number of textile mills in tainment, including their right take adequate measures to pro- tal Management Plan, etc. On June 16, 2005, the Mumbai occupying approxi- to life with human dignity, en- mote, protect and improve both The amendments made in MoEF wrote to the Chief Sec- mately 602 acres in the heart of compasses within its ambit the the man-made and the natural 2004 spoke of New construc- retary of the Maharashtra the city. The area comprising protection and preservation of environment.