Tamil Nadu: PIL Filed Against Karunanidhi Pen Memorial Days After AIADMK's D Jayakumar Had Moved Supreme Court Regarding It

KK Ramesh, a resident of Madurai, has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court against the proposed Pen Statue to be built in memory of former chief minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) supremo M Karunanidhi.

This is the second PIL to be filed against the proposed Statue. Earlier, in February, a group of fishermen had filed a PIL.

Ramesh has asked the Court to direct the Tamil Nadu government and the Union Ministry of Environment to drop the project as it could harm the coastal ecosystem.

Further, he alleged that state government departments had granted permission in haste.

The PIL comes days after a plea against the Pen Statue by D Jayakumar, the Organising Secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).

The proposed Pen Statue would be 42 metres tall and it would be built in the sea at a distance of 360 metres from the coast. It would be made accessible from the existing Karunanidhi memorial near Marina Beach in Chennai through a bridge.

It is expected to cost the state exchequer around Rs 80 crore.

While the total project area would cover 8,551.13 square metres, about 2,263 square metres of sea area would have to be reclaimed for building the monument.

In April, the Union Environment Ministry’s Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) cleared the proposal with certain conditions. It now awaits a No-objection certificate (NOC) from INS Adyar, which is stationed in the area.

Also Read: Tamil Nadu: 'Is Karunanidhi Greater Than Thiruvalluvar', Asks BJP Leader In Reference To Height Of Proposed Pen Memorial