Squatters on Korattur lake despite order in Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: Squatters continue to occupy the bed of Korattur lake even five months after the Madras high court ordered their eviction. Twenty-one structures need to be removed from the lake’s waterspread area, which was originally 214 acres but has now shrunk to one-fourth the area.
In an order dated Jan 21, Justice S Vaidyanathan and Justice K Rajasekar of the Madras high court had rejected the plea against eviction of one of the encroachers.
“The petitioner is not residing in Survey No. 810/5, as this plot is located away from the designated lake area. Although the sale deed mentions Survey No. 810/5, the petitioner appears to be residing in Survey No. 813, which is actually part of the lake,” the judges said.Therefore, the relief sought by the petitioner cannot be granted, and the writ petition stands dismissed, the judges ruled.
One of the judges noted that Korattur Lake and Villivakkam Lake had significantly shrunk due to encroachment, and no one should be allowed to encroach upon water bodies.
S Sekharan, founder of the Korattur Aeri Padhukaapu Makkal Iyakkam, said more encroachments were happening as there was no effort to remove the structures from the lake’s water-spread area. Nine permanent structures have existed for more than a decade in what has been designated as R K Dakshan Nagar. There are five structures in ‘Dhanalakshmi Nagar’ and seven structures in ‘Ondi Veeran Koil’ area that are encroachments. If authorities fail to take immediate action, the next step is to initiate a contempt of court petition against them, Sekharan said.
When contacted, a senior engineer from the water resources department said they had written to the police requesting protection while executing the high court order. The eviction will be completed soon, the official added.