Mushrooming of encroachments in the city’s water bodies and channels have been a bane for decades and the city denizens are groping in darkness as the encroachements increased year after year.
Thanks to the recent eviction drive of encroachments in Anaimedu, Muthu colony, Ukkadam tank south bank, Cheran nagar and Anna colony over 1000 hutments which have been pitched on the encroched channel lands and waterbodies have been successfully evicted by the joint operation of City Corporation and Tamilnadu Slum Clearance Board.
While the city denizens are happy about the eviction drive, which resulted in retrieving waterbodies to its original glory, which paved way for increased storage capacity, they also point to the other water bodies and channels which have been under major encroachments and awaiting official action.
The citi denizens expect that the eviction drives be carried out to revive those tanks and water bodies too, whose storage area have shrunken abysmally over the years, due to which drought condtions prevailed in the summer months.
The long list of encroached water bodies is a tell tale symptom, have the authorities have failed to carry out periodical eviction drives and reclaim the encroached lands.
While there are 15,000 huts pitched in Singanallur tank and its feeder channels alone, the tank lands in Selvampathi and Kumarsamy tank have not either been spared but encroached upon heavily. Over 3,500 hutments and structures have cropped up in the encroached lands in the past few years alone in these two tanks alone say Public watchers.
While Devisirai, an ancient check dam areas have been encroached upon the Highways department, acres of farmlands in Sengulam have also been encroached and they yet to be evicted.
The city denizens while appreciating the major eviction drive carried out in Sunnambukalvai area In Raja Vaikal expect the same with regard to other encroachments afflicting the life sustaining water bodies, occurring within the city.