PMK organizes a signature campaign appeals to the state government. to announce the extent of Pallikaranai wetlands

PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss and party leader in assembly Sowmiya Anbumani at a signature campaign in Pondy Bazaar urging the state government to protect the Pallikaranai wetland on Sunday. | Photo credit: B. JOTHI RAMALINGAM

PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss and party leader in assembly Sowmiya Anbumani organized a signature campaign in Pondy Bazaar on Sunday urging the state government to protect the Pallikaranai wetland and said the wetland should be officially notified by the state government.

During the campaign Dr. Anbumani criticized former DMK minister PK Sekarbabu, who was in-charge of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, for not playing a key watchdog role in the state for real estate development.

He said, “CM Vijay must directly intervene in this matter. The marshland must be demarcated and officially notified. Every day 5,000 tonnes of garbage is dumped and burnt in the marshlands. The construction companies are inciting the people who live there. They are forcing them to say that they do not need any land and that it is the middle class families who are rightly using it as part of the marshland dispute. demarcated and officially notified, it cannot be interfered with.”

“water crisis”

Ms. Sowmiya said, “The reason this issue has become so important today is the water crisis. Chennai is a huge city with a population of nearly ten million. We cannot drink water from the Cooum River. Despite having three rivers, Chennai has no usable water. There are no lakes or ponds left in Chennai. The government itself has built residential colonies on lakes and ponds where ponds once existed. Rainwater if the swamp will exist, the ground water will be available when we open the taps, the swamp must be protected, otherwise south chennai will be barren.

Published – 19 Jul 2026 23:56 IST