Times of
India: Chennai: Saturday, September 14, 2019.
Bureaucratic logjam over the
removal of encroachments in a major waterbody on the southern fringes of the
city is perhaps a typical example of how government departments turn a blind
eye even as the waterbody disappears.
More than one-fifth of the
Pallavaram Tank, also known as ‘Periya Aeri’, which covers an area of more than
110acres abutting the 200feet radial road, is encroached, according to a reply
provided by the public works department (PWD) recently to an RTI petition.
This includes a massive
garbage dump which is used by the Pallavaram municipality. Reply to the same
RTI, filed by Naveen of NGO Arappor Iyakkam, states that the local body has no
official permission to operate the dumpyard, which not only causes pollution,
but also poses a major hygienic risk to residents.
“The garbage dump has been
around for more than 20 years from the time dumping waste in the waterbody was
not illegal,” said an official of the municipality.
Despite knowing this, both
the municipality and the PWD are playing “pass-the-parcel” on removal of
encroachments from the waterbody.
TOI spoke to officials from
both departments. The PWD official said the municipality obtained official
permission from the government and is in-charge of removal of encroachments as
well as carrying out other development work for which around Rs 12crore has
been sanctioned.
A top official of the
municipality, when asked, said that since the lake covered an area of more than
100acres, it was the responsibility of the PWD.
Interestingly, the PWD in its
RTI reply referred to a court order because of which encroachments could not be
removed. In a related RTI, it cited a Madras high court order from 2007
pertaining to removal of encroachments. “It is totally unrelated,” said David
Manohar, a local resident and member of Arappor Iyakkam.
However, the municipality
official told TOI that a resident who had encroached on 2acres of the tank on
the eastern side had obtained a court order in his favour. “This is a reason
for not removing the encroachments,” he said.
David Manohar, who has been
highlighting the issue for the past several years, said the municipality is
aiding the encroachers by building bunds and providing other civic facilities
like roads and building permits.
“They even advertised this in
2018, but the flex was removed after we petitioned a top official,” he said.
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