CHENNAI: The request by the Tourism Department for relaxation in the floor space index (FSI) in the proposed tourism corridor on East Coast Road to enhance development has raised concerns about preservation of acquifer recharge areas.Sources told City Express on Tuesday that the Tourism Department had sought relaxation of the FSI in the proposed corridor from Neelangarai to Uthandi but the fact that the area is under shallow acquifers has caused concern.The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority has submitted a report in this regard to the government and a decision is awaited, CMDA sources said. Theysaid that in the second master plan for the Chennai Metropolitan Authority the aquifer recharge area had been zoned and special regulations brought in for the areas to be notified as a tourism corridor. The maximum permissible FSI in the ECR area is 0.8 and it should not be relaxed due to ecological concerns.Since 1980 development was banned in this area to preserve the aquifer potential. However, considering the demand for land in view of the IT sector development, and the fact that aquifer recharge can be achieved by rainwater harvesting, the proposal to lift the ban was being considered by the then government and the views of the Metro Water were sought. Metro Water stated that any major development in the proposed tourism corridor should take into consideration the hydrological eco-system of the area.“If large scale tourism development is permitted, it will lead to over-exploitation of ground water, which will adversely affect the natural ground water potential of this area, already at the optimum level, and could result in sea water intrusion too,” Metro water stated.As per Coastal Zone Notification 2011 in CRZ-III areas between 200 to 500 m from the high tide line (HTL) tourism-based activities are permissible subject to Union Government clearance with a lower FSI of 0.33, a coverage of 33 per cent and a height restriction of nine metres. The restriction also applies to any ground water.At the moment the proposal is before the government. “The recommendations, along with the Metro Water report, have been submitted to the government,” the sources said.
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