Don't threaten Ramapuram residents of eviction, MNM tells cops, Corpn

CHENNAI: Makkal Needhi Maiam on Tuesday asked the Greater Chennai Corporation and the police not to threaten the residents of Thirumalai Nagar at Ramapuram with eviction before the Madras High Court passes its final order. The Corporation has threatened to evict over 600 families living the plots allotted by the erstwhile Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board as encroachment on Ramapuram Lake.

In a statement, MNM vice president R Thangavelu said that for over 45 years, around 600 families have been residing in Thirumalai Nagar at Ramapuram in Maduravoyal taluk in the houses allotted by Slum Clearance Board.

"A sudden jolt in the form of a case filed to remove the ‘encroachments' has hit the people of Thirumalai Nagar quite rudely. MNM requests the government that proper statistical data must be put forth and save the people of Thirumalai Nagar from losing their homes, " he demanded.

"In 1994, the TNSCB (now known as Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Board) allotted 600 sq.ft of plot each, to 276 families, and duly received the relevant amount for the same. Some of those who paid in full received their registered documents, received subsidies from the Central government's housing project and built houses at the site," he noted.

He pointed out that 77 families were evicted based on a court order in 2001 from Vandipadhai at Ramapuram and allotted 400 sq ft plots at Thirumalai Nagar by the revenue department.

A PIL was filed in 2019 alleging that these families have built houses on water bodies and that they must be removed immediately. "Before every hearing, the officials of Chennai Corporation, along with the police, threaten the people to vacate and threaten the shop owners to shut down business. This is a regular pattern of stress these residents face. The relevant government departments are delaying the submission of documents in the High Court," he alleged.

When the government departments submit the documents in the court, it will be clear to all that these were indeed allotted by the government, he said.