CHENNAI: CPM state secretary P Shanmugam has urged the State government to issue pattas to residents of Quaid-E-Millath Nagar and Stalin Nagar in Anakaputhur, without evicting them from the Adyar riverbank.

In a petition submitted to the Minister of Municipal Administration, Urban and Water Supply, KN Nehru, on Monday morning, he made a strong case for regularising the settlements in these areas.

The petition was handed over in the presence of CPM’s South Chennai district secretary R Velu. Raising concerns about selective enforcement, Shanmugam questioned the State government’s hesitation in demolishing allegedly illegal constructions by prominent real estate developers and the buildings of a private engineering college, which reportedly encroach upon the Adyar river.

“Why is the government prompt in deploying bulldozers against the poor, but remains hesitant and silent when it comes to affluent offenders?” he asked in a post on the social media platform X.