THOOTHUKUDI: The residents of Tharuvaikulam on Wednesday urged the district administration to take action against a private salt pan owner for allegedly blocking a public road and encroaching a water body in the village, and demanded to ensure the accessibility and recovery of the lands.
In a complaint, Soundararajan, a resident of the village, alleged that Devaraj, who hails from Thoothukudi, has encroached a road connecting Tsunami colony to ECR road, and dug a pathway across using an earthmover to cut off connectivity. The aforesaid road measuring 94-cent was recently purchased by Rathi Malar, a resident, who later documented it in the name of Tamil Nadu Governor, and it was declared a public road in 2023, he added.
The complainant further accused Devaraj of encroaching almost half of the space of a tank located near Pathirakaliamman temple and converting it into a salt pan. "He has been releasing waste brine from his salt pans into the tank making it unfit for cattle consumption. In spite of repeated appeals, Devaraj refused to stop the release of brine into the tank. Both the road and tank should be properly surveyed and recovered," Soundararajan said.