CHENNAI: A division bench of Madras High Court has stayed construction of a 120-ft road across two water bodies in Thiruvidanthai near Thiruporur for providing access to a 160-acre township developed by a private construction firm. Justice N Kirubakaran and Justice TV Thamilselvi passed the interim order on a plea moved by G Raja, a local resident.
The petitioner said that over 43.68 acres of land are being irrigated with water primarily from Thiruvali Kuttai and Ambal Eari. “Over several years many farm lands in the area were converted to residential plots and sold to private individuals. A private realty firm tried to lay a road cutting between two lakes to gain access to their land. The attempt was initially dropped since villagers opposed the move,” Raja said
Subsequently, on July 20, 2020 the firm once again tried to lay a road and damaged tanks using earth movers. “When the issue was brought to the knowledge of the District Collector, the villagers were shocked to know that a G.O. had been passed granting permission to widen a 60 feet road there based on the recommendations of director of town planning and member secretary of Mamallapuram local planning authority. The G.O. is illegal and has been issued on extraneous considerations,” he said.
Based on a representation, the jurisdictional revenue divisional officer directed Thiruporur tahsildar to take action against alienation of water bodies. But no action has been taken till date, Raja alleged, and added that already three roads are there for the firm people to reach their land. “But, they want to build a road across the lakes for commercial purposes.”