5 acres of encroached land worth Rs 1 crore retrieved near Ponneri

According to police, the lake area was encroached by the private parties in Ponneri for the past several years. A section of the Ummipedu lake, which measures 58 acres, was encroached up to 5.5 acres.

Following the court directive on removing encroachments in waterbodies across the State, and upon receiving information, Tiruvallur Collector R Maheshwari sent officials to inspect the land and confirm that it was encroached.

Revenue Divisional Officer Nandhakumar along with the local tahsildar and other revenue department staff surveyed the land and issued notices to the people residing at the lake area illegally.

Although, they issued notices to public who encroached 12 acres of the water body lands were occupied, as a first step, they recovered 5.5 acres of the wetland. “The remaining land will also be recovered soon,” Tiruvallur revenue officials said.