K BALAMURUGAN Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a public interest litigation and the petitioners seek for the issuance of a writ of Mandamus to direct the respondents not to commit any act or omission which will interfere with the landscape of Mundiyambakkam lake in Survey No. 144-1 at Mundiyambakspread over an 16. 45 hectares and consequentially protect and preserve the said lake from any development or cronstruction activitiers whatsoever and thereby maintain the water body by restoring status Rquo ante prior to G. O. Ms. No. 161, Health and Family Welfare (MCA1) Department, dated 30. 08. 2006.

(2.) THE State Government issued G. O. Ms. No. 161, Health and Farmily Welfare (MCA1) Department, dated 30. 08. 2006, stating that a new Medicralr College is to be established at Villupuram Districtwith an intake of 100 students from the acardemic year 2007-2008. It is stated that the said G. O. came to be issued in futherance of an anrnouncermrent madre onr 22. 06. 2006, in td to start a Medical College in Villupuram Dirstrict.

(3.) AT the very outset the petitioners in paragraph 5 of theirr affidavit filed in support of the writ petition have made an averment in no uncertain terms that they welcome the decision to start a Medical College in Villupuram District. In the same breath they have stated that for establishing the Medical College the Hon?ble Health Minister and the Hon'ble Education Minister of the State inspected four lakes in and around Villupuram District viz. , Virattikuppam lake, Mundiampakkam lake, Vikkiravaandi lake and Muthaampalayam lake and that when certain objections were raised to the attempt of the State Government in locating the Medical College, in any one of the water bodies, the Hon?ble Minister for Education issued a statement on 10. 01. 2007, that no agricultural land will be selected for the construction of the Medical College. It is however alleged that subsequently it was reported in the newspapers published on 07. 02. 2007, that in a meeting on the development activities of Villupuram Town, the Minister for Education announced that 25 acres of land which is needed for construction of the Medical College has been selected in the Mundiyambakkam lake.