The Madras High Court has given the Tamil Nadu government four weeks to conduct a land survey and submit a report in a case seeking removal of an alleged encroachment on 61.75 cents of government lake poramboke land in Veeraganur village, Salem district.
The case was filed by former councillor M. Rajendran, a resident of Veeraganur. According to the petition reported by Dinamalar, the land lies alongside a government lake and helps collect water seeping from it, contributing to groundwater levels in wells in surrounding areas.
The petitioner alleged that an individual had illegally occupied the land and constructed a building on it. He also claimed that the Veeraganur town panchayat administration had issued a house-tax receipt to the occupant. The petition asked the court to direct the authorities to remove encroachments from the government land adjoining the waterbody.
Rajendran further submitted that the Revenue Department had issued a government order in 2014 concerning the removal of encroachments from government poramboke land near waterbodies. He alleged that no action had been taken to clear the occupation in Veeraganur despite repeated representations to the Public Works Department, the Revenue Department and the town panchayat administration.
The petition argued that protecting waterbodies and natural resources is a responsibility of the government. It sought directions to the authorities to remove the alleged encroachments from the lake poramboke land.
The matter came before a bench comprising Justices G. Jayachandran and E. Manoharan. During the hearing, the government requested four weeks to carry out a land survey and submit a report. The bench accepted the request and granted the time sought.
The court’s direction means that the immediate next step will be an official survey of the land and the submission of its findings. The supplied report does not establish whether the alleged encroachment exists, whether the construction falls within the recorded lake poramboke boundary, or whether the house-tax receipt has any bearing on ownership or occupation rights. Those questions will depend on the survey and the report to be filed before the court.
The case also brings multiple administrative responsibilities into the same proceeding. The Revenue Department is responsible for land records and boundary identification, while the Public Works Department and the local town panchayat have roles connected with waterbody management and local administration. The court is expected to consider the government’s survey report after the four-week period.
