CHENNAI: The Madras High Court ordered the revenue department and the district administration to remove encroachments in Melmaruvathur in Chengalpattu within a month. The First Bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy passed the orders on Monday while disposing of a writ petition filed by R Raja. It also ordered official respondents to file a compliance report on the eviction of the encroachments.
The petition pertains to encroachments made by several parties, including Adhiparasakthi Charitable Medical and Cultural Trust. Recording the submissions of a status report filed by Additional Advocate General (AAG) J Ravindran, the bench said the report showed that action was initiated and a part of the encroachments had been removed. The bench granted a month after the AAG sought more time to complete the eviction.
Earlier, the bench had issued specific directions, by tagging all related petitions, to remove the encroachments made on waterbodies and file a compliance report by March 31. Highlighting that the date is fast approaching, the court said the directions issued in a batch of writ petitions are not in relation to a particular waterbody but all the waterbodies in Tamil Nadu.
Govt seeks more time
The petition pertains to encroachments made by several parties. Recording the submissions of a status report filed by AAG J Ravindran, the bench said the report showed that action was initiated and a part of the encroachments had been removed. The high court bench granted a month after the AAG sought more time to complete the eviction