Ombudsman censures GCC for delaying encroachment removal

CHENNAI: Coming down heavily on the Chennai Corporation officials, who delayed action against a textile giant in Velachery that encroached upon a civic body land, Ombudsman for Tamil Nadu Local Bodies directed to reclaim the land apart from taking disciplinary action against concerned officials.

R Raja, an activist based in T Nagar, filed a petition with the Ombudsman against Chennai Silks in Velachery alleging that the textile showroom encroached 839 sqft of land. He also requested the Ombudsman to take action against the concerned officials, who failed to remove encroachments even after complaints.

As per the complaint, the showroom is operating a coffee shop, parking space and generator room on the encroached land.

During a hearing, Raja pointed out that the concerned land is mentioned as 'road' in revenue documents. However, the executive engineer of Adyar zone claimed that the showroom denied encroachment allegations when sent notices and said surveyor of revenue department is yet to survey the land based on which action could be taken.

Hearing both sides, Ombudsman M Malik Feroze Khan observed that the executive engineer who appeared before the Forum attempted to mislead, gull and divert the case towards the revenue authorities.

"The Revenue officials right from District Revenue officer down to the Tahsildar, Velacherry have dinned into the ears of the Zonal officer of the Corporation that the encroachment portion by the textile shop is the property of the Greater Chennai Corporation and it is their duty to clear the same as per standard procedure. But the Executive Engineer has turned a blind eye to the whole correspondence repeating that the Tahsildar has to measure the encroached portion for eviction, " he observed.

Ombudsman further stated that the act is sheer complicity, connivance and collusion with the encroaching business unit by the field officials of the Adyar zone.

"The Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner is directed to launch disciplinary action against the Assistant Commissioner, Executive Engineer and other field officials involved in this scam. "The encroachments should be cleared within 15 days categorically. Shocking apathy and collusion by the Zonal Officials for almost one year."

"There is a unit known as Land and Estate in the Greater Chennai Corporation, that is in-charge of land records of the Greater Chennai Corporation. Moreover the land records of the Corporation have to be meticulously maintained by the respective Zonal Officers instead of shifting the responsibility to the Taluk Revenue authorities. This is nothing but a ploy to delay the whole process, drag on as much as possible and abdicate the responsibility with a view to abet the encroachment who is a commercial entity in this case, " he said.