Madras HC slams TN for allotting sand dune land to school

Chennai: Quoting French-Canadian astrophysicist Hubert Reeves, who said, "Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible God and destroys a visible nature. Unaware that this nature he's destroying is this God he's worshipping," the Madras high court censured the Tamil Nadu govt for acting "recklessly" and allotting land comprising sand dunes as an alternative to land recovered from a private school on the grounds that it belonged to a temple."Sand dunes are natural buffers that protect the land from storms and other events. They are habitats for certain flora and fauna. They are eco-sensitive systems of utmost importance. Without realizing that these sand dunes are also the incarnation of Lord Sri Devanatha Swami (deity of the temple), the authorities deemed it fit to allocate them to the school for development," Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy said on Thursday. The court then quashed a GO dated July 1, 2025, and directed the govt to allocate alternative land or pay the value of the land to St Joseph's Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Koothapakkam, Cuddalore.The court passed the order on a plea moved by the school challenging the GO allotting the land comprising sand dunes located 34km away from Cuddalore. In 1979, the school purchased 5.77 acres of land through a GO. In 2009, the govt issued a GO to resume the land on the ground that it belonged to a temple.Aggrieved, the school moved the court. The court directed the govt to allot 4.5 acres of land, preferably near Cuddalore town. Since the govt allotted the land 34km away from the town, the school moved the court once again, alleging that land comprising sand dunes was allotted.