Tamil Nadu cabinet clears 86,000 pattas in ‘belt’ areas

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu cabinet chaired by Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday approved the disbursement of pattas to over 86,000 people residing in "non-objectionable" or 'belt' areas in Chennai among the urban areas of the state.

Briefing media persons after the meeting at the state secretariat, Revenue minister KKSSR Ramachandran said the state cabinet approved the award of pattas to over 86,000 people, including 29,187 people residing in 'belt' areas in the state capital region.

The Cabinet decided to award pattas to around 86,000 people living in non-objectionable areas or areas other than water body poramboke, graveyards and areas banned by the court, minister Ramachandran said, and added that the guidelines would be issued in a week and the Chief Minister has set a six-month deadline to finish the works. "Two committees would be constituted immediately after the issue of GO. One at the district level and another headed by the Chief Secretary. The committees will monitor and finish the distribution of pattas in six months. The work would be done at the district collectorate. If the public turnout is high, we will organise camps to avoid discomfort to the people while executing the works," the minister added, pointing out that the list of beneficiaries, which included 29,187 persons in the Chennai region and around 57,000 people in other corporations like Madurai and municipalities, were identified through an elaborate survey conducted by the department.

Adding that they have distributed pattas to 10 lakh people in the last four years, Ramachandran said the CM has advised them to distribute pattas to another six lakh people. The pattas would be distributed after relaxing a 1962 law (approved by the Cabinet on Monday) that barred the issue of pattas to people residing on encroached land.