Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited has moved to the Madras High Court with a plea to quash a 1998 Government Order (G.O.) through which not only the 73.06 acre Vedanthangal Lake but also all places within the 5km radius around it were declared a bird sanctuary.
Chief Justice S.V. Gangapurwala and Justice P.D. Audikesavalu on Monday ordered notice, returnable by October 10, to the State government on the pharma company’s contention that those places could be declared only as an eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) and not as a sanctuary.
In its affidavit, the company said that in 1992-93, a company named Pradeep Exports Limited was established as a pharmaceutical industrial unit at Sathammai village near Vedanthangal. About five years later, the State government, by way of the G.O. issued on July 3, 1998, declared the Vedanthangal Lake to be a bird sanctuary.
While doing so, the government did not restrict the notification to the lake alone but also included places within 5 km radius, from the boundaries of the lake, too within the category of sanctuary. The company highlighted immense hardship caused to numerous people due to such a classification.
Stating that Pradeep Exports got merged with Sun Pharmaceutical Industries by the way of an amalgamation in 2000, the petitioner company said, it had to face several litigations before the National Green Tribunal because of the industry situated at a distance of 3.72 km from Vedanthangal lake.
Wondering how the State government could declare all places within a 5 km radius as a sanctuary, the company said, if the 1998 G.O. had to be implemented strictly, it would lead to disastrous consequence affecting thousands of residents, farmers, business houses, and others.
It also claimed that a study carried out by it through a private surveyor revealed that the 5 km radius consisted of 24,520 acres of land spread across 20 villages. The company also claimed that the 2011 guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests require the State government to declare the area surrounding the lake to be a SEZ and not a sanctuary.
