THOOTHUKUDI: With Kovilpatti town narrowly escaping the wrath of heavy inundation despite torrential rains, the residents and activists are all praise for the Madras High Court’s Madurai bench order, which led to the demolition of 148 shops built upon the Selvakulam Canal, in 2020.
Kovilpatti, an industrial town built on Kathiresan Hills, received over 495 mm of rainfall on December 17 and 18. The town had never witnessed such heavy rainfall in its history. Despite the heavy rains, the water drained quickly and without sinking commercial establishments and residential areas, owing to the removal of encroachments from the Sevalkulam Canal.
The canal originates atop the Kathiresan Hills and drains into the Sevalkulam Tank in Moopanpati panchayat, covering 2.5 kilometres through the heart of Kovilpatti. In 2010, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court issued orders to remove shops encroaching upon the canal. However, this was delayed as the encroaching shopkeepers filed appeal petitions. Finally, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal petitions in 2020 and subsequently directed the removal of the encroachments.
According to Sankaralingam, a social activist and founder of the Fifth Pillar Movement, also a petitioner in the case to remove the encroachments, the district administration removed over 148 shops on a 1.25-kilometre stretch.
“Despite life threats, I had protested against the encroachments on the canal, which was a cause of traffic snarls and frequent flooding during the monsoon since 2006. I held nearly 63 agitations and fought a legal battle against the encroachment, which resulted in the demolition of 148 shops by November 21, 2020,” Sankaralingam said.
He also appreciated the efforts of the then collector Dr K Senthil Raj, Kovilpatti tahsildar Manikandan and municipal commissioner Rajaram, who implemented the Supreme Court’s directives despite several challenges and pressure from the establishment owners. “It was only because of their support that the mass removal of encroachments was possible,” he added.
“The municipality must also remove the encroachments near Muthu Anandapuram Asramam street,” Sankaralingam said.“The residents and shopkeepers were unaffected due to the removal of the encroachments on the canal. Otherwise, residents of Natarajapuram, Chekkadi Theru, Oorani Theru, Ambedkar Theru and other nearby areas would have been affected, possibly due to the floods,” said Maheshwaran, a resident.
Meanwhile, overflows from Athaikondan Tank and Inam Maniachi Tank drains into the Moopanpatti Tank through a 60-feet-wide drain canal, which has now been reduced to 20 feet due to rampant encroachments. As a result, Mahalakshmi Nagar on Ilayarasanendhal road was flooded.
The public in Kovilpatti opine that encroachments on two other drain canals — the Theppakulam Canal that flows into Sevalkulam Tank and the Kurinjankulam Canal that flows into the Kurinjankulam Tank — must be removed as Kovilpatti is growing at a quick pace.