A few commercial structures, which had encroached upon property belonging to the Ambattur Municipality on the Chennai Tiruvallur High Road, Padi, were demolished on Monday.
Officials of the municipality said a few establishments had encroached upon about 5,000 sq.ft space of burial ground at Padi. The compound wall of a wedding hall close to the burial ground was also demolished to retrieve the land measuring 17,500 sq.ft.
The encroached space, which was originally Pandurangapuram pond, was being used as a vehicle parking area for the marriage hall. The compound wall was constructed over a portion of the burial ground, an official said.
The burial ground was located on a total space of one acre. This was part of a drive to retrieve the property of the local body as well as those of water bodies.
A senior municipal official said a similar drive was conducted last month at Aiyankulam in Oragadam where structures that encroached on almost one acre of land were demolished. A tender has already been floated to create a park around the rejuvenated waterbody at a cost of Rs.20 lakh.
A park around the water body would be created on the site on the lines of Mangal Eri in Mogappair, the official said. The municipality had already evicted people who had occupied the space at Thangal Lake, Vijayalakshmipuram and Korattur burial grounds in the last six months.
The local body plans to revive a minimum of 12 waterbodies encroached upon by the end of this year.
Discussions are on with officials of the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board to provide alternative sites for the resettlement of evicted families, the official added.
