Following a protracted legal dispute, Coimbatore Corporation is poised to remove an encroachment and reclaim a 21-cent portion of VCV road owned by the civic body.
The public road is valued at ₹10 crore and connects West R.S. Puram with Dr. Krishnaswamy Mudaliar Road. This roadway has been encroached upon for nearly three-and-a-half decades.
A panel of judges of the Madras High Court recently overturned two rulings from lower courts concerning the encroachment on the road. The road, measuring 220 feet in length and 40 feet in width, situated within the central zone of the Corporation, served as a crucial access route for the residents of Kamarajapuram.
City-based activist S. P. Thiyagarajan said, “The encroacher obstructed the public road by leasing out a portion to a steel company, while the remaining area was converted into a car dealership.”
He further revealed that the encroacher had profited by leasing out the municipal land to private entities. “Despite the revenue records being in the name of the Corporation Commissioner, no action was taken for almost 35 years,” Mr. Thiyagarajan said.
A Town Planning official at the Corporation said, “This ruling is indeed a positive development. Previous attempts to take action were hindered by the individual’s persistent filing of cases. However, after years of legal battles, we finally have a judgement empowering us to reclaim the road.”
