Madras High Court To Issue Directions For Removal Of Encroachment On Water Bodies Across State; Judgment Reserved

The bench of Acting Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice PD Audikesavalu has expressed its inclination to issue directions on the common grievance of waterbody encroachment.

"The obligation of the state and its officers is simple. They will have to maintain the water bodies, free from encroachments. The case on wetlands will be heard separately. The directions that we will issue will be applicable not only to the water bodies that form the subject matter of petitions before the court, but all the water bodies across the state," the Court said.

It added,

"This order must be strictly complied with by the state government. We will fix a time frame to remove the encroachments and if that's not done , the responsible officers will be called to the court. The responsibility is fixed on the concerned officers to maintain, protect and repair the waterbodies in this list."

The court also warned that any inaction will be met with disciplinary action against the officials.

It further reminded the authorities that if the water does not accumulate in the waterbodies due to encroachment, floods will follow. The common order will be beneficial to all, and thereafter, if any other issues persist, it will be taken up separately.

Issues like reclassification of water bodies have been separated from the list and will be taken up separately on different days.

"Regarding the main issue of encroachment of waterbodies in the public interest litigation, arguments have been heard. Judgement reserved", the court accordingly noted in the order.

Yesterday, the court had dispensed with the personal appearance of Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary V Irai Anbu upon the intimation that the list of water bodies has been published in Tamil Nilam Website detailing their survey numbers, location and area.

Today however, some of the petitioners expressed a concern that the website was not fully functional and that the survey numbers of water bodies must be previously known for getting access to the rest of the details on the website.

Thereafter, the details of all water bodies existing in the State was handed over to the bench in a Compact Disc (CD) by the Chief Secretary.

Back in January 2019, the High Court had taken its first step in dealing with illegal encroachments. It had directed the then Chief Secretary and District Collectors to tackle water body encroachment and file an Action Taken Report explaining the progress made in implementing recommendations for rectifying the shortcomings of encroachment eviction. Further, Collectors of respective Districts were asked to prepare a list of lands identified as water bodies in their revenue records and file an action taken report.

Case Title: Suo-Moto PIL & Connected matters

Case No: WP/12653/2017 (PIL)

Click Here To Read/ Download Order