In the Gummidipoondi taluk of Tamil Nadu's Tiruvallur district, villagers have been vehemently opposing the Manellur Industrial estate, proposed by the State Industrial Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT). In a petition filed to the NGT, residents alleged multiple legal violations regarding the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) proceedings by the project proponent and Environmental Clearance (EC) granted by the MoEFCC.

Manellur Industrial parks project has been segmented into three phases. The cost of two industrial parks in phase 1 and phase 2 in Manallur, Soorapoondi, Matharpakkam, Sanaputhur and Vanimallee villages is estimated at Rs. 860 crore. While the land is being acquired for the phase 3, at least 2433 acres has been earmarked in the above villages. 

Several violations have been flagged by residents in all the three projects. However, a key concern has been that SIPCOT segmented 4326.62 acres of the industrial establishment into three small projects to evade the stringent environmental compliances and to avoid detailed scrutiny or more stringent environmental requirements.

The first project at Manellur and Soorapoondi villages (691.587 acres) was proposed in 2015 and the MoEFCC granted the environmental clearance in 2020. However, residents flagged that the project was wrongly categorised under Section 8(b) (Townships and Area Development projects) instead of 7(c) (Industrial estates/ parks/ complexes/ areas, export processing Zones (EPZs), Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Biotech Parks, Leather Complexes) under the EIA notification 2006 to avoid the public hearing. Also the EIA report, prepared by a non-accredited agency, hid the fact that Pulicat Bird Sanctuary is just 5.5 km from the proposed area. The report also did not mention that the proposed Industrial estate falls within the Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZ) of the sanctuary, requiring a clearance from the National WildLife Board (NWLB). 

After the residents filed petitions regarding the violation in environmental clearance (EC) process, the NGT Southern Bench directed the authority to conduct a cumulative Environmental Impact Assessment by accredited agency, conduct public hearing and seek clearance certificates from NWLB in 2022. The EC was stalled after the MoEFCC raised concern over proceedings being done without a conservation plan and without the consent of the concerned village Panchayat.

In another petition against the phase 2 of the Manellur project in Soorapoondi and Vaniamallee villages (spread across 533.11 acres), the NGT issued similar directives as it found that the EC granted for phase-2 had similar procedural violations.

Jagan, resident of Manellur and one of the petitioner in the case proceedings said, "SIPCOT has always been off-screen from the CAG audit by not providing documents of subsidiary to the investor, which also includes land acquired from people, especially farmers. We people have to lose all our subsistence, our land, water, livelihood to the SIPCOT, they are not even going to provide employment to the native people. We only have to work as security, scavengers/sanitary workers. There would be no leverage of local economy from this project"

Tamil Nadu government's industrial policy note states that Manellur phase 2 project is being implemented in 1348 acres, but the EC is applied for only 533.11 acres, raises questions over the government's fair proceedings in the entire process. 

Tata's Voltas Limited has started it's functioning in Manellur phase 2, while the NGT has withhold its environment clearance. In total, 4500 acres of land is planned to be acquired by SIPCOT inside the eco-sensitive zone of India's second largest bird sanctuary and second largest backwater ecosystems for industrialisation by segmentation as 3 or 4 projects. These lands include the cattle grazing porambokku (commons). The region provides grazing land to more than 20,000 cattle. 

In January 2025, NGT’s Southern Bench in its judgement directed the SIPCOT to apply for a combined EC for all the segmented projects and establish the project in phased manner with Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA).

While this is a victory for the petitioners, residents continue to worry about the environmental impact of these projects. Satheesh Lakshmanan from Poovulagin Nanbargal (Friends of Earth) told LCW, "This project would stop the people's subsistence on farming, fishing and pasturing where the environment is already have exposed to excess pollution load from the Gummidipoondi SIPCOT park."

In February 2024, thousands of migratory birds died due to human interaction. Residents of Manuellur and surrounding villages are concerned about the pollution, citing the already existing Gummidipoondi SIPCOT Industrial Estate. In another finding, land parcels of more than 150 acres bordering the SIPCOT proposed sites have been sold to private companies like Voltas Limited by SIPCOT which are being developed.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government has announced its plan to denotify 279.99 hectares of land within the Pulicat Bird sanctuary.