NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Tamil Nadu government to resettle all 138 families from Siru Kulam Lake in Sivakasi district to a different place by December 14 and refused to grant more time to the government.
In the Siru Kulam Kanmai poramboke land, out of the 138 encroachments, 93 were residences, 36 industries and nine other encroachments. The encroachments were near the banks of the Kanmai and they have been there for the past 25 years. The government had cited law and order problems for the non-removal of encroachments near the lake. In 2008, the HC, too, had directed the government to remove the encroachments but the government preferred to appeal the same in apex court.
The High Court had observed: “It is, of course, true that eviction of encroachers will give rise to law and order problem, but such a contention cannot at all be countenanced as a valid reason for not removing them. We do not think that the State is justified in projecting the likelihood of law and order situation as a ground not to evict the encroachers.”