Corporation seeks to reclaim 10-acre plot from school

The plot, worth about Rs. 1,100 crore, was allegedly encroached on; land in revenue records is classified as ‘government poromboke’

The Chennai Corporation’s attempt to retrieve a 10-acre plot of land on the banks of the Adyar received a shot in the arm after a recent order of the commissioner of land administration. The land, worth nearly Rs. 1,100 crore, was allegedly encroached upon by a private school in Kottur.

Revision petition rejected

The order of the commissioner of land administration was in response to a revision petition filed by the society that runs the school against the order of the district revenue officer (DRO). The DRO had rejected the society’s claim for grant of patta for the land.

However, the commissioner noted that the society had given “no reasons as to why their name was not registered in any of the revenue records in Kottur village.”

In the absence of any entries in the revenue records, the petitioner’s request was unsustainable, the commissioner’s order said.

Revenue department records classify the land as ‘government poromboke’ and record it as a Corporation playground. The society’s request to the Tahsildar of Mylapore-Triplicane for issue of patta had been rejected in 2003.

Legal process soon

Corporation officials said the legal process to retrieve the land would commence soon.