The Madras High Court has directed the Tiruvarur district administration and the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department to examine a petition and remove encroachments from 14 temple-owned tanks, ponds and a stream in Thiruthuraipoondi within four months.
The order was issued by a bench comprising Justices S.M. Subramaniam and R. Rajesh Vivekanathan while hearing a petition filed by advocate R.K. Ayyappan of Thiruvanmiyur. The petition alleged that water bodies belonging to temples in Thiruthuraipoondi had been illegally encroached upon and were no longer fully available for public use.
According to the petition, the affected properties include Brahma Theertham and Ramar Madam tank, as well as Ayyanar pond and other water bodies belonging to the Bhava Aushatheeswarar Temple. The list also includes Aliya Nachiyamman pond, Pappan stream and Parangu pond, which were identified as belonging to the Mullachchi Mariamman Temple. The petition referred to 11 ponds associated with the Bhava Aushatheeswarar Temple and three water bodies linked to the Mullachchi Mariamman Temple.
The petitioner told the court that these tanks, ponds and the stream had historically served as sources of drinking water for residents in the area. Encroachments, however, had made them completely unavailable for public use, according to the submission.
The petition also said that representations seeking removal of the encroachments had been submitted on January 6 of the previous year to the Tiruvarur district collector, the executive engineer of the Water Resources Department and the joint commissioner of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department. The petitioner alleged that no action had followed those representations.
The water bodies are classified as tanks, ponds and a stream in government records, according to the petition. It asked the court to direct the authorities to clear the encroachments from the properties. The court directed the Tiruvarur collector and other officials to consider the petitioner’s representation and remove the encroachments within four months.
The order places responsibility on multiple departments because the properties involve temple ownership, government land records, water resources and district-level administration. The direction does not provide details in the supplied report on the number of encroachments, the identities of occupants, the area affected or the procedure that will be followed for removal.
The next step is for the district administration and the concerned departments to process the representation and act within the four-month period specified by the court.
