Relocation of memorials from marina beach: HC issues notice to TN govt

The petitioner submitted that he had already made representations to the authorities concerned in this regard.

Chennai, Nov 13: Hearing a PIL seeking relocation of the memorials of former chief ministers from Marina beach in Chennai, the Madras High Court on Monday issued a notice to the Tamil Nadu government.

When a PIL by social activist Traffic Ramaswamy came up, the first bench comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar issued the notice to the state government, returnable by two weeks.

Ramaswamy submitted that there were already two memorials of former chief ministers C N Annadurai and M G Ramachandran at the beach and the present government proposed to build another memorial for late chief minister J Jayalalithaa at a cost of Rs 15 crore.

He referred to a direction from the Centre that all areas along the coastal zones in India, particularly those susceptible to erosion and degradation, must be protected from any sort of construction and said the 'samadhis' (burial sites) of the chief ministers should be relocated to a vast area available at Gandhi Mandapam in Kotturpuram.

The petitioner submitted that he had already made representations to the authorities concerned in this regard and also requested the state government to scrap the current proposal to build a memorial for Jayalalithaa.

PTI