Time for action against encroachments: Naidu

Union Minister for Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu came down hard on the issue of encroachments and building upon lake beds and water bodies during his two-day visit to Chennai where he came to inspect the flood damage.

“I feel the time has come where we have to take up this issue on a war-footing. We will have to take the hard decision to remove all these encroachments both public and private,” he said. Elaborating on the point, he said “People are encroaching rampantly. As a result of this unchecked growth, a larger section of people have been affected. At the same time, reservoirs, lakes and rivers are shrinking.”

Obsession with occupation

“We are obsessed with occupying more and more land. The local municipal bodies and authorities are becoming silent spectators,” he said. “The Government of India will help with housing schemes. But we need to have something like a defined demarcation so that people do not encroach upon river beds. It is very important to implement such measures now.”

Complimenting people of Chennai for taking steps to restore normalcy, he said, “I salute the people of Chennai for their resilience. A major issue after the water receding is garbage cleaning. It is a huge task. People need to be more patient as work has started to get this done. But we should also congratulate the sanitary workers as their houses were also destroyed in the rains,” he said.“I came here to express our (Central government) solidarity and to extend whatever support possible to the people of Chennai. The people of Chennai have suffered very adversely because of the continuous rain,” he said. Naidu is on a two-day visit to Chennai to get a first-hand account on the impact of the torrential rains during the first week of December.