Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) will hold a public hearing next month to get people’s consent for environmental clearance to the state government’s plans to erect a ‘pen’ monument in memory of late chief minister M Karunanidhi in the Bay of Bengal off the coast of Marina Beach here.
In an advertisement published in newspapers, the TNPCB said the public hearing over the project will be held on January 31, 2023 at the Kalaivanar Arangam on the arterial Anna Salai. “The draft environmental assessment report, brief of the project’s plan, and disaster management plan will be placed before the public for their comments,” R Kannan, Member-Secretary, TNPCB, said in the advertisement.
The DMK government led by Karunanidhi’s younger son, M K Stalin, came up with a proposal to install the pen monument in the Bay of Bengal as a tribute to the writing skills of the late DMK patriarch.
The proposal, for which provincial approval was given by authorities from the state and Central governments, is being opposed by environmentalists who have flagged concerns over pollution that the monument could bring on the seashore.
‘Muthamizh Arignar Dr Kalaignar Pen’ memorial is proposed to be built at a cost of over Rs 81 crore, according to an estimate by the Public Works Department (PWD). Environmentalists say the Marina Beach is an area which has a high-accretion rate (accumulation of sand) and the proposed memorial could further affect the coastline and will have an impact on fish population as well.
The government is already building a grand memorial for Karunanidhi at his resting place near his mentor C N Annadurai’s memorial on Marina Beach. Poovulagin Nanbargal, an NGO that is at the forefront of protecting the environment, said permission for construction of a monument/memorial has been granted only in exceptional cases since 2015 after imposing a slew of conditions.
The organisation also says the pen memorial can be built inside Karunanidhi’s memorial complex.