The First Bench of the Madras High Court has issued a significant directive to the revenue authorities of Chengalpattu District, ordering a time-bound enquiry and action against alleged large-scale encroachments on a vital water body in Nandivaram Village.
The order was passed in a Public Interest Litigation (W.P. No. 36349 of 2025) filed by P Baskar, a resident of Nandivaram Village, who sought the court’s intervention to protect the ‘Kandigai Thangal’ lake, classified as a water body in Survey No. 252/1.
A Decade of Inaction Alleged
During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel, B Jagannath, presented a case of administrative delay. He informed the court that despite repeated representations sent by the petitioner in 2018 and 2024, and subsequent directives from the District Collector to the Tahsildar to conduct an enquiry, no concrete action had been taken. The counsel highlighted that as recently as October 2024, the Tahsildar had written to the Revenue Inspector instructing a physical measurement survey of the lake, but the encroachments persist.
The petitioner’s affidavit paints a grim picture, alleging that over the past decade, bureaucratic inefficiency has allowed the construction of more than 100 houses on the water body. The affidavit states that out of the lake’s total extent of 11.24 acres, approximately 6 acres are under encroachment, leaving only about 5 acres for water storage. This, the petitioner contends, is a blatant violation of the Tamil Nadu Protection of Tanks and Eviction of Encroachment Act, 2007, and various Supreme Court judgments that mandate the protection of water bodies.
Court’s Directive: A Three-Month Deadline
After hearing detailed arguments from the petitioner’s counsel and the standing counsel for the respondents, the Learned First Division Bench disposed of the writ petition with clear and specific directions.
The court order states: “The enquiry if conducted by the Respondents shall be shared with the Petitioner. If no enquiry is conducted till date, then we direct the Revenue to conduct the enquiry within 3 months in accordance with law & remove encroachment & then communicate the same to the Petitioner.”
This directive puts the onus on the revenue department to either present the findings of any prior enquiry or complete a fresh investigation and initiate eviction proceedings within a strict three-month timeframe.
Subscribe to our channels on Telegram, WhatsApp, and Instagram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.
