“Whenever Karunanidhi Put His Pen Down, Tamil Nadu…”: Stalin Defends Key Statue Project

Chief Minister MK Stalin named a few important projects and schemes, which Karunanidhi signed off on with his pen

Chennai: Environmental activists and the opposition is massively criticizing the proposal of the DMK government to erect a ‘pen monument’ in the sea of Marina beach. The monument will be a tribute to the late CM Karunanidhi. Amid this, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin indirectly defended the project.

MK Stalin spoke about the importance of Karunanidhi’s pen. He said, “Whenever Karunanidhi put his pen down, Tamil Nadu rose and stood tall.”

He added, “The same pen of Karunanidhi changed the destiny of the Tamil community.”

Further, he named a few important projects and schemes, which Karunanidhi signed off on with his pen.

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The petitions submitted by certain state residents of the state urged the Tamil Nadu government and the Ministry of Environment to reverse their plan to build a “Pen” statue inside Marina beach and to avoid endangering the environment and marine life there.

The plea stated, “The proposed monument would be located around 360 meters into the Bay of Bengal from the Marina beach coast, the State sought permission under Section 4 (ii)(j) of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification amended on March 22, 2016. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had asked the State to submit the final Environment Impact EIA/EMA report within four years on the DMK government’s plan to construct the Kalaignar Pen Monument in the Bay of Bengal.”

The city has an ample amount of land on which the memorial can be built, but, building a monument inside the sea will impact the marina ecosystem and marine life, it said.

PIL claims, “The project would affect the livelihood of fisherfolk and take a toll on the environment, and about 32 villages of fishermen will be impacted when it is constructed.”