CHENNAI: Refusing to entertain the petition filed by the residents of Madhavaram Milk Colony seeking not to evict them, the Madras High Court granted them four months to vacate the place for the phase two work of the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL).

In their petition, R Lakshmi and two other residents of the colony sought a direction not to vacate them from there.

However, when the petitions came for hearing, Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy noted that the dairy sector has undergone modernisation and it was hence not necessary for the individual milk providers like petitioners to be within the close vicinity of the farm.

Thus, they cannot insist the State not evict them from the residential colony, the court said.

The court granted the State government four months to evict the petitioners so that CMRL would be able to continue with phase two work, and disposed of the matter.

Earlier, the petitioners submitted that the then government established a residential colony in Madhavaram between 1959 and 1960 for several families like them, who were made to settle there to cater to the growing milk requirement of the city.

The rent for the houses was fixed on a par with government employees, who were covered under the colony residents and government quarters scheme, they said.

Cow sheds were established 100 metres from the colony and it was managed by the Dairy Development Department, said the petitioners.

On February 20, 2023, the Dairy Development Department issued a notice to remove the cow shed so that CMRL could take up the word on phase two.

The cow shed was moved to Kosappur, four kilometres away, the petitioners said.

Now, they have received another notice to vacate them from their homes for the expansion of the project, they claimed.