Chennai

A Corporation official attached to the zone said that around 140 houses were found encroaching Alapakkam lake for years. “We have an instruction to remove encroachments from the water bodies before the northeast monsoon. We have to restore the reclaimed water bodies,” the official said.

Due to years of encroachments, the lake has shrunk to the size of a pool. As the lake is under the maintenance of the Public Works Department, the Chennai Corporation received no-objection from the department before removing the encroachments. On Friday morning, a team of officials and workers visited the spot and started razing down the houses amid some opposition from the residents.

However, the officials razed down more than 140 structures. “Once the removal of encroachment work is completed, we will restore the lake by desilting and strengthening the bunds,” the official added.

Several police personnel were deployed at the spot to prevent any untoward incidents during the drive.

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