NGT asks CMRL to get green nod for new line

The line touches Nanmangalam Reserve Forest boundary

The Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal has directed Chennai Metro Rail Ltd. (CMRL) to not proceed with its project along the Nanmangalam Reserve Forest area without getting necessary permissions and approvals required under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. The NGT has directed that since the project is still under tender stage, CMRL must obtain the permissions and then proceed with the work. As part of CMRL’s phase-2, which consists of three corridors, the C-5 alignment connects Madhavaram in the north to Sholinganallur in the south. CMRL submitted before the tribunal that the alignment is confined to the periphery of the Reserve Forest and does not pass through the Nanmangalam Reserve Forest.