NTK chief to take legal action against Centre over clearance for Pen memorial

Chennai, April 29 Actor-turned-politician and founder leader of Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), Seeman on Saturday announced that he will take legal action against the Union Environment Ministry for approving the proposed Pen memorial at Chennai's Marina beach.

In a lengthy tweet in Tamil, Seeman said: "It is anti-democratic that the Union expert committee has given permission to set up the Pen memorial in the sea without the rules. (The) Union government's hasty approval of this anti-environmental scheme of the state government shows their combined anti-people attitude.

"The fact that permission has been given without taking into account the people's opinion meeting was not properly held highlights the fact that the Union and State Governments do not value the opinion of the people at all. I announce that we Tamil party is going to take legal action against this anti-people-anti-ecological project."

The expert committee of the Union Environment Ministry had recommended the proposal to construct Muthamizh Arignar Dr. Kalaignar Pen monument in the Bay of Bengal off the Marina beach for coastal clearance with 15 conditions.

The Tamil Nadu Public Works Department (PWD) had proposed the monument measuring 30 metres in height and would be spread over nearly 8,551 square metres.

The state's Coastal Management Authority had given its approval with a few recommendations.

The proposal for the construction of the Rs 81 crore memorial was sent to the Union Ministry after the norms were complied with.

The Tamil Nadu PWD earlier said that it had addressed some of the major concerns raised during a public hearing and said that steps were taken to minimize the impact on ecology.