The Madras High Court has directed the Managing Director of Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) and the Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner to complete the underground drainage (UGD) work at ward number 147 at Alapakkam in Valasaravakkam zone with the assistance of the police, since it was represented that an individual was claiming right of ownership over a property through which the pipelines had to be laid.
Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M. Sundar passed the order on a public interest litigation petition filed jointly by three local residents — N. Koteswara Rao, N. Srinivasan and N. Varadarajan. According to the petitioners, about 15,000 families were residing in ward number 147 comprised of various localities including Krishnamachari Nagar, Bhagyalakshmi Nagar, Ashtalakshmi Nagar, Sri Devi Nagar, Chakrapani Nagar, Bharati Nagar and Sri Krishna Nagar.
Under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), a plan was conceived and administrative sanction was accorded for an underground drainage project in the ward, the petitioners said and claimed that pipelines for the project were laid up to Rukmani Nagar.
However, the work got halted midway since the pipelines for about 110 metres were not laid, they said and sought for a direction to CMWSSB to complete the project at the earliest.
During the course of hearing of the case, the counsel for CMWSSB informed the court that the project could not be completed due to resistance from an individual, E. Jeevanandam, claiming to be the owner of the land where pipes were to be laid. The court was also told that the individual had filed a writ petition in 2015 followed by a writ appeal this year in the High Court.
After going through the orders passed by a single judge of the High Court in the writ petition as well as the one passed by a Division Bench in the writ appeal, the Bench led by the Chief Justice said: “Be it noted that the Division Bench (which decided the writ appeal) did not restrain CMWSSB from entering the land of Mr. Jeevanandam or from laying sewer pipeline or any other pipeline in his land. Rather, the Division Bench permitted CMWSSB to do so.”
Authoring the judgement for the Bench, Ms. Justice Banerjee also said: “There can be no doubt that a person may be entitled to compensation if any damage is caused to him. The question of damage can only arise after the pipeline is laid.” Though the CMWSSB counsel doubted Mr. Jeevanandam’s claim of ownership over the land, the judges said that it was not for the court to go into that question at this stage.
They pointed out that Section 67 (1)(c) of the CMWSSB Act of 1978 empowers the board to enter upon any immovable property and place and maintain pipes and sewers across and/or under such property. However, sounding a word of caution to the authorities as well, the judges said: “There can be no doubt that the authorities have a duty to take reasonable care and there is no reason to suppose that such care will not be taken.”
“Notwithstanding the order of this court, Mr. Jeevanandam has allegedly been offering stiff resistance. If he has been offering resistance as alleged, his act is contumacious and he renders himself liable to penal proceedings,” the judges said and directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Anna Nagar, to extend necessary help to the CMWSSB in completing the project at the earliest and preferably within three months.
