The Madras High Court has requested experts from Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History to study whether the revitalisation of Ukkadam and Valankulam lakes by the Coimbatore Municipal Corporation was in any way detrimental to the birds that nest in the two waterbodies.
A special Division Bench of Justices N. Sathish Kumar and D. Bharatha Chakravarthy requested the ornithology research institute to depute two experts for conducting the study and directed the State government, Coimbatore Corporation and Forest department to extend all assistance.
After finding that the revitalisation activities were more anthropocentric than being ecocentric, the court wanted the experts to find out “whether the developmental activities that are being carried out now by the Corporation are in any manner detrimental to the nesting or other activities of the birds.”
Granting two months’ time for the expert committee to conduct the study, the court expected it to submit a report by February 20, 2026 along with its recommendations for carrying out the development activities without harming the natural life of both the migratory as well as inhabitant birds in the two lakes.
The orders were passed after the Corporation filed a detailed counter affidavit to a petition filed by activist Muralidharan and said that solar panels had been floated on just 0.2 acres, constituting 0.05% of the total area of Ukkadam lake, and that they do not in any way block the sunlight for the aquatic species.
