Is this plot inside the Pallikaranai Ramsar zone?
Chennai's Ramsar site is Pallikaranai Marsh (Ramsar site 2481, designated 8 April 2022), and CMDA building approvals inside its boundary and within 1 km of it have been frozen since October 2025. Drop a pin and the check tells you whether the plot is inside the site, inside the 1 km zone and how far from the boundary, or outside both.
Sign in with your phone to run it. You see the price and approve it before anything runs.
- Inside the site, inside the 1 km zone, or clear, with the distance in metres
- The band the distance falls in (0 to 100 m, 100 to 300 m, 300 to 500 m, within 1 km)
- The severe layers (monument buffers, reserve forest, Ramsar wetland, swamp, flood, water bodies, the Redhills catchment) swept at the same pin, shown only if they hit
1 creditper run, charged when the register answers
What we need
One thing at a time. Fill it in and press Run.
The answer
From the register, with its date and source.
Nothing run yet. The answer appears here with everything this mini adds:
- Inside the site, inside the 1 km zone, or clear, with the distance in metres
- The band the distance falls in (0 to 100 m, 100 to 300 m, 300 to 500 m, within 1 km)
- The severe layers (monument buffers, reserve forest, Ramsar wetland, swamp, flood, water bodies, the Redhills catchment) swept at the same pin, shown only if they hit
Pallikaranai Ramsar site, briefly
A Ramsar site is a wetland a national government has listed as being of international importance under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, adopted at Ramsar, Iran, on 2 February 1971. India joined on 1 February 1982.
- Notified extent
- 1,247.54 ha
The Ramsar boundary takes in about 695.85 hectares of reserve forest plus the adjoining marsh, so a plot can sit outside the reserve forest and still be inside the Ramsar site.
- Approval freeze
- 1 km
The NGT order of 24 September 2025 and CMDA Office Order No. 07/2025 of 9 October 2025 stopped planning and building approvals inside the boundary and a 1 km zone of influence.
- Villages named
- 15
The office order covers parts of Puzhuthivakkam, Madipakkam, Kulathur, Pallikaranai, Jalladianpet, Perumbakkam, Arasankalani, Semmancheri, Sholinganallur, Karapakkam, Injambakkam, Okkiyam Thoraipakkam, Seevaram, Perungudi and Velachery.
How to check if a plot is in the Pallikaranai Ramsar zone
- 1
Place the pin on the plot
Tap the plot on the map, paste a Google Maps link to it, or use your location while you stand on it. The survey parcel under the pin is found as well.
- 2
Press Run
The pin is tested against the notified Ramsar boundary of Pallikaranai Marsh and the 1 km zone drawn around it.
- 3
Read the verdict and the band
Inside the site reads Restricted. Inside the 1 km zone reads Flagged, with the distance to the boundary and its band. Outside both reads Clear.
When it helps with land
Buying a plot or flat in south Chennai
Around Velachery, Pallikaranai, Medavakkam, Perumbakkam, Sholinganallur and Perungudi, check the pin before paying an advance. A plot inside the zone cannot get a new CMDA building approval while the freeze stands.
An under-construction project
Approvals granted before the freeze have been reopened: the environmental clearance for a Perumbakkam project was revoked on 8 May 2026. Know where the site sits before you rely on the builder's papers.
A loan or a resale
A saved answer with the distance and band is something to put in front of a lender, a lawyer or a buyer asking the same question.
The 1 km line is the provisional zone of influence, drawn as a flat 1 km around the notified boundary. The Tamil Nadu State Wetland Authority has told the Madras High Court that the final zone will follow the marsh's channels and drainage, so it may come out narrower in places and wider in others. Only Pallikaranai is checked here, not Tamil Nadu's other Ramsar sites. Confirm your position with CMDA and the Tamil Nadu State Wetland Authority before you buy or build.
Questions people ask
Which are the Ramsar sites in Chennai?
Chennai's Ramsar site is Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest, Ramsar site number 2481, designated on 8 April 2022 as the city's first, with a notified extent of 1,247.54 hectares. Tamil Nadu as a whole had 20 Ramsar sites on 4 August 2026, more than any other state.
Can I build within 1 km of Pallikaranai Marsh?
Not with a new approval at present. The National Green Tribunal (Southern Bench, O.A. No. 91/2023) directed on 24 September 2025 that no planning or building approvals be granted inside the Ramsar boundary or a 1 km zone of influence until that zone is scientifically delineated, and CMDA gave effect to it through Office Order No. 07/2025 dated 9 October 2025.
What is the latest on the Pallikaranai Ramsar case?
CREDAI Chennai and landowners challenged the 1 km zone in the Madras High Court in March 2026, and the petitions were listed before the Chief Justice bench on 20 August 2026. When the finder page was last reviewed on 21 August 2026 the outcome had not been reported, and until an order is passed and CMDA issues a revised circular the freeze applies.
Which survey numbers are in the Pallikaranai Ramsar zone?
In June 2025 the State Wetland Authority drew up a provisional list of 304 survey numbers inside the Ramsar boundary, pending verification against the final boundary. Rather than rely on a list, drop a pin on your plot: the check reads the boundary itself and gives the distance.
What do the distance bands mean?
They grade how close the plot is to the Ramsar boundary: 0 to 100 m critical, 100 to 300 m very high, 300 to 500 m high, and 500 m to 1 km moderate to high. The CMDA freeze applies across the whole 1 km zone, whichever band the plot falls in.
Is the 1 km zone final?
No. The Tamil Nadu State Wetland Authority told the Madras High Court in July 2026 that the 1 km zone came from a draft plan and is not a fixed circular buffer, and that the real limits must follow the inlet and outlet channels, elevation and natural drainage. The flat 1 km line is still the one the freeze uses.
What does it cost?
1 credit per pin, charged only when the layer gives a real answer. The free Ramsar site finder page stays available; this check adds the survey parcel under the pin, a sweep of the other severe layers and a saved answer.