Encroachments removed @ Madambakkam

Revenue officials removing encroachments near the Madambakkam Lake at Tambaram on Saturday.Revenue officials of Tambaram taluk on Saturday removed encroachments near the ‘kalangal’ (outlet) of the Madambakkam lake near here.Kancheepuram Collector Pradeep Yadav ordered the eviction following complaints from farmers, residents and officials of the Madambakkam Town Panchayat.

On Saturday morning, officials, led by S. Subbiah, Tambaram Tahsildar, and staff from the town panchayat demolished a thatched hut and a compound wall.Authorities of the Madambakkam Town Panchayat, residents and farmers in the area had complained to the Kancheepuram Collector about attempts by land grabbers to usurp a piece of land near the outlet.Through this outlet surplus water drained into other waterbodies and lakes in Madambakkam, Perumbakkam and Sithalapakkam, and encroachments would impact on the natural flow of water.Officials said about 15 cents of land (about three grounds) was encroached upon a couple of months ago. Then, in May, the land-grabbers attempted to take over 1.25 acres of land near the outlet.

Officials said the land was classified as ‘eri poramboke’ and none could claim its ownership.Land grabbers had attempted to convert the ‘poramboke’ land into housing plots and sell them.The lake’s expanse was about 200 acres and farmers raising paddy and other crops in Madambakkam, Nuthanchery, Padhuvanchery and Tiruvanchery were dependent on it.There were two outlets on the southern and eastern sides of the lake; the encroachments had come up near the outlet on the eastern side, farmers said. They appreciated the quick response of revenue authorities.