Madras High Court seeks response on pollution at Agni Theertham in Madurai Bench

Tamil Nadu: On Wednesday, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court ordered the relevant authorities to respond to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) about pollution in Agni Theertham in Rameswaram with a counter-affidavit within two weeks.

Concerns over environmental deterioration and its effects on devotees and marine life are raised by the PIL, which draws attention to the worrying problem of sewage and dirty water contaminating the holy sea.

Elephant Rajendran brought the severe pollution problems close to the Rameswaram Ramanathaswamy Temple to the attention of the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court in a petition.

The petition claimed that sewage from the Rameswaram municipality was contaminating the sea, especially near the Agni Theertham, which is regarded as a sacred body of water, and that the roads leading to the site were in bad shape.

The petitioner emphasized that no steps had been done to remedy the pollution problem in spite of many appeals to the authorities.

Therefore, in order to improve the road conditions for the devotees who visit the temple, the petition asked the court to direct the authorities to take urgent action to halt the sewage flow into the sea.

While considering the plea submitted by Chennai-based counsel Rajendran, a Division Bench consisting of Justices M. S. Ramesh and A. D. Maria Clete issued the ruling. In order to guarantee that no sewage or tainted water was released into the ocean, the petitioner asked the authorities for guidance.

He asked the Ramanathapuram Collector for guidance on how to preserve the road and padithurai in good shape and stop sewage from being released into the sea.

The case’s hearing was postponed by the court until November 27.