The 90-cent land off Nanjundapuram Road near Sripathy Nagar and Kanniga Parameswari Nagar is supposed to be a 100 Feet road connecting the Road with the 80 Feet Road, near Olympus.
It is at present a vacant land that has attracted the attention of land sharks who are trying to usurp it. Or that is what the residents allege. N. Manoharan, a former president, Sripathy Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association, said that in the past couple of days, a few persons have been removing bushes and razing the ground. The residents thought that it was the Corporation trying to develop the proposed land but it turned out to be encroachers when they removed the Coimbatore Corporation’s board and placed theirs saying that it was a private land.
The Corporation had placed the board around seven years ago when encroachers tried to usurp the land and residents responded by moving the court and getting a court order saying that the land belonged to the civic body.
In response to the court order, the Corporation had clearly told the residents that it was the rightful owner of the land and had planned to develop a road linking Nanjundapuram Road and 80 Feet Road and that the road proposal was also part of the plan approval for the area.
But the recent development had caused consternation among the residents, said P. Muralidharan, a resident. The group of persons that tried to encroach upon the road seemed to be the same set that attempted in 2007.
If the land was encroached upon, a few residents would lose access to road and the best way to prevent the land from falling into the hands of land sharks was for the Corporation to develop the land into road, Mr. Muralidharan said.
Corporation Commissioner K. Vijayakarthikeyan said that the civic body had acted on the residents’ complaint by removing the encroacher’s board.
It had also planned to develop the road and would start the process at the earliest. The civic body was keen on protecting the lands gifted to it during layout development and use them for public welfare, he added.
