Chennai: In a blow to Brigade Enterprises, the Tamil Nadu government has halted a Rs 2,000-crore housing project by Brigade Enterprises near the ecologically-sensitive Pallikaranai marshland Ramsar site after the state’s environment body revoked its environmental clearance for lacking wetland authority’s permission.
The Tamil Nadu State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) last month revoked the permission for the housing project near the ecologically-sensitive site.
The clearance was initially granted on 20 January 2025 for Brigade Morgan Heights project, involving 1,275 residential units near Perumbakkam near Pallikaranai, Chennai.
In a statement, Brigade Enterprises strongly contested the SEIAA’s decision to revoke the environment clearance, describing it as “legally unsustainable, factually incorrect and arbitrary in nature”.
The clearance was rescinded following SEIAA’s 1,005th meeting on 8 May 2026 based on inputs from the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and the Member Secretary of the Tamil Nadu State Wetland Authority.
Officially designated as a Ramsar Site of International Importance on 8 April 2022, the Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest is the last surviving natural wetland ecosystem in Chennai, and one of the few remaining freshwater swamps in South India.
Spanning across 1,247 hectares along the city’s IT corridor, it functions as a sponge absorbing stormwater and helps mitigate severe urban flooding while recharging the groundwater levels of South Chennai.
Environmentalists have long warned against unchecked development in its vicinity, highlighting risks to the wetland’s hydrology and the city’s flood resilience.
Brigade Morgan Heights was planned as a high-rise residential development on about 14.7 acres of land. The project comprised three residential towers reaching up to 18 floors, with around 1,250 units of 2, 3, and 4 BHK luxury apartments.
The total estimated project value was around Rs 2,000 crore and at the time of the revocation in May 2026, the project had made some progress.
Anti-corruption NGO Arappor Iyakkam had advocated against the project saying that it occupied the ecologically vital marshland in Pallikaranai. The organisation raised complaints about the project approvals since October 2025, and urged the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) to also revoke the project’s planning permission.
Arappor Iyakkam approached Chief Minister Joseph Vijay about the project concerns, following which the government halted the project on Thursday.
The project was in the “under construction” phase per Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) records, with possession originally slated for 2030. While the location’s proximity to IT hubs, schools, and upcoming infrastructure attracted homebuyers, the complete sales had not taken off on a large scale.
While environmentalists hail the revocation as a victory for ecological protection, uncertainty now looms over the ongoing projects.
“Any land that is identified as a wetland or any designated land in the ecologically sensitive areas should be reviewed before any project is planned. These areas are identified and assigned survey numbers but no system exists to publish these details for verification before such projects are undertaken. This revocation serves as an example for developers to ensure that ecologically sensitive areas should not be compromised for infrastructure development,” said Jayaram Venkatesan, convener at the Arappor Iyakkam.
Also Read: Is Vijay’s TVK ideologically bankrupt?
Company says it is private land
Meanwhile, In an official statement, the company said, “We reiterate that the project site is private patta lands, classified as dry lands (“punjai”) in revenue records dating back to 1935, and has been in the continuous possession of the current landowners since 1985.”
The firm said it entered into a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with the landowner for the land in 2022. “Brigade also issued public notices at the time of entering into the JDA and also at the time of securing the EC in leading newspapers, and no objections were received whatsoever,” the Brigade Enterprises told ThePrint in a statement.
The company cited a February 2026 Madras High Court dismissal of a related PIL, which highlighted that final wetland boundaries remain undecided. They argued the generic environment clearance condition for wetland permission was not applicable here, as no authority had conclusively classified the lands as wetlands.
“While dismissing the PIL, the HC concluded that until ground truthing is completed in the Ramsar process, the project lands could not be conclusively designated as wetlands,” the statement said
In the PIL which was heard over a period of five months, none of the authorities, including the SEIAA and Tamil Nadu State Wetland Authority (TNSWA), made any submissions stating that the project lands were wetlands or that the approvals granted should be cancelled, the statement added.
“Till date, the project site does not fall within any notified wetland area under the applicable Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 and no authority has claimed otherwise,” the statement said.
Poovulagin Nanbargal, a Chennai based environmental group, welcomed the move of revocation of environmental clearance and called on the Environment Department not to entertain any fresh application for environmental clearance from Brigade for this project.
It also urged the Tamil Nadu government to expedite the identification and notification of wetlands across the state as per the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017.
The SEIAA convened the meeting to discuss the cancellation of EC on 8 May 2026 and issued the cancellation order on 12 May.
The Brigade group claimed that it was not provided with any prior notice, personal hearing, technical discussion, site verification, or an opportunity to submit any documentary evidence or be heard. Bona fide commencement of project activities was in progress, and third-party rights have also been created, it said.
The developer plans to appeal and pursue all legal remedies, stating that the move could impact broader development in South Chennai, affecting thousands of property owners and stakeholders across over 11,000 acres in the proposed zone of influence, and not just the project alone.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also Read: Chennai is starting to clear the Perungudi garbage mountain. And make furniture from it