CHENNAI: Holding that no encroachment on water-bodies can be tolerated, the first bench of Madras High Court has directed the Erode District Collector to take immediate steps to remove the encroachments in and around the canals branching out from Perumpallam dam of Surampatti Village.
The Bench of Chief Justice SK Kaul and Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana gave this direction while allowing a Public Interest Litigation petition from one T Ravichandran, on Monday.
Rejecting the contentions of the authorities concerned that the encroachments were only on the banks of the canal which did not affect free flow of water, the bench said the water area should be cleared forthwith.
Action should be taken in pursuance to the encroachment removal notices, as no encroachment in a water area could be tolerated, specifically in view of the judgment of the Full Bench, made earlier in another case.In the Counter, the authorities submitted that of the 589 encroachers, 17 had already vacated and 572 refused to do so. Notices were issued in 2012 itself, it added and sought for further time to remove the encroachers and shift them to new dwelling units, which are yet to be constructed.
Instead of taking action promptly, a long drawn out plan is sought to be envisaged by the officials under the pretext of constructing dwelling units, which is at the drawing of the plan stage, the bench pointed out and directed the authorities to take immediate action to remove the encroachments and posted the matter on March 4, 2016 for compliance.