MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court ordered the Kanniyakumari district administration to adhere to the undertaking given by the district collector to the court that no encroachments would be permitted in the district's water bodies.
The collector had given the undertaking before a Bench of justices GR Swaminathan and B Pugalendhi, in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed to remove the encroachments made in Mankulam alias Pambattikulam tank in Chadayamangalam village in the district.
The PIL was filed jointly by the chairman of the project committee of the Kothaiyar Basin Irrigation System of the water resources department, the president of the PP Channel Distribution Committee and the president of a water users association in Lakshmipuram. During the hearing, the judges noted that the government and local bodies have put up constructions inside the above tank, which have been in existence for some time. They decided to remove the encroachments directly. In order to ensure that no further constructions are put up, the judges directed the additional advocate general to convene a meeting with the stakeholders.
Based on the direction, the district collector convened a meeting with all departments and gave instructions not to permit further encroachments in any water body in the district. The collector also gave an undertaking to the court to that effect. Recording this, the judges directed the authorities to adhere to the said undertaking for all times to come. In case of breach of the order, the construction made in the water body would be ordered to be demolished, and they added and disposed of the PIL.