The Madras High Court Bench here on Friday restrained members of Tiruchi Press Club from carrying out any work, including levelling of the ground, on 1.96.5 hectares of land classified as Kottapattu Periyakulam, a water body in revenue records but allotted to them by the State government in 2008 for being converted into house sites.
A Division Bench of Justices Nooty Ramamohana Rao and S.S. Sundar granted interim injunction on a public interest litigation petition filed by S. Vinothraj, who identified himself as a conservationist. The judges directed the Tiruchi Collector and Corporation Commissioner to file a status report along with necessary photographs within four weeks.
They observed that neglect of water bodies and not taking sufficient steps to conserve the existing water tanks was one of the reasons for adverse impact on environment. Although the government had assigned the land to 57 journalists on condition that the assignment would get complete only after reclassification of the land in the revenue records, the Division Bench said that mechanical reclassification of water body lands, in order to achieve other objectives, could not be appreciated by the court.
According to a Government Order (G.O.) issued by the Revenue Department on May 16, 2008 for assigning the water body land to the journalists, a similar G.O. had been issued on September 29, 1998 for assigning 1.96.5 hectares of land at Kottapattu in favour of the members of Tiruchi Press Club at the rate of Rs. 29 a square foot. Subsequently, one more G.O. was passed on May 13, 1999 reducing the rate of assignment to Rs. 20 a square foot at the request of the journalists. Not satisfied with it, the club members requested the government to waive off the assignment cost. The government rejected their plea on December 11, 2000.
Nevertheless, the Government, as a special case, passed the 2008 G.O. assigning the land to 57 members of the club at the rate of Rs. 25 a square foot on condition that the assignment would reach finality only after reclassification of land since the Madras High Court, in another case, had restrained the government from alienating water bodies.
Urging the court to quash the 2008 G.O., the petitioner said that it had been passed in violation of the provisions of Tamil Nadu Protection of Tanks and Eviction of Encroachment Act, 2007. He feared grave danger to ecology and water requirements of the people in the locality if the water body was converted into house sites.
