TN to Convert 118-Acre MRC Land into Waterbody, NGT Orders Status Quo

The Tamil Nadu government has announced that the 118 acres of land reclaimed from the Madras Race Club (MRC) will be converted into a water body, a move it says will help recharge groundwater and mitigate floods in south Chennai.

The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Secretary N. Muruganandam on August 19 with senior officials from the Water Resources Department (WRD), Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), CMDA and the Horticulture Department. The WRD has been directed to conduct a detailed study on how the land can be shaped into a sustainable water body.

The site lies upstream of the much-shrunken Velachery lake once 255 acres, now reduced to a fifth of its size. Environmentalists argue that the MRC land is critical to restoring lost hydrological balance in the city. Already, the GCC has dug four ponds on the property, together storing 4.7 million cubic feet of rainwater.

The government’s announcement comes even as the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) southern bench has ordered the state to maintain status quo on the land until a comprehensive report is filed. The tribunal, hearing petitions on the encroachment and degradation of Velachery lake, had earlier questioned why the land was handed to the Horticulture Department instead of being restored as a water body.

In an affidavit, Additional Chief Secretary (WRD) K. Manivasan informed the tribunal that a ₹23.5 crore project under CMDA’s Lake Front Development Scheme is underway to desilt and deepen Velachery lake, which would increase its storage capacity by 22%. Plans are also being drawn up to rejuvenate other tanks in the catchment as part of a citywide flood-mitigation effort.

However, counsel for the MRC has contested the government’s takeover, pointing out that the original 99-year lease signed in 1946 only expires in 2045. The tribunal is expected to hear the case again in the second week of November.

For now, the 118-acre land remains in limbo, tied between the state’s plan to restore it as a water body and the legal challenges over ownership.