'Remove encroachment near Vinayagar temple in Vadapalani in 6 weeks'

CHENNAI: The first division bench of Madras High Court directed the GCC Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi to conduct a survey of one acre of land nearby the Varasithi Vinayagar temple in Vadapalani within 6 weeks to remove encroachments in the temple tank.

Heading the bench along with Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy, Acting Chief Justice T Raja passed the orders on hearing a PIL filed by G Deva, a resident of Chennai.

Deva asked for legal action to remove the encroachments in the 1-acre temple tank situated at Pillayar Koil Street, Vadapalani. According to the petitioner, the 15 feet road leading to the temple tank was under complete encroachment.

“The petitioner sent a representation to the respondent authorities on December 20, 2022, seeking the removal of encroachments. Since the said representation did not evoke any response, the petitioner has been advised to file the present writ petition,” the litigant’s counsel submitted.

Government pleader P Muthukumar submitted that the second respondent/commissioner of GCC would conduct a survey of the land in question and thereafter remove the encroachments after giving notice to the encroachers.

Recording the submissions, the judges held that the GCC commissioner shall conduct a survey the land with the assistance of the jurisdictional surveyor, adding, “If any encroachment is found, the same shall be removed after issuing notice to the encroachers. The entire exercise is to be completed within six weeks,” the court ordered.