Madras High Court: Clear water bodies of encroachments

Hearing a PIL petition filed by the Manu Needhi Consumer Protection Council, it was stated that the Cooum and Adyar rivers as well as the Buckingham canal had shrunk to one third of their original size due to encroachments. Such encroachments prevented excessive rainwater from flowing into the sea and entered residential areas, it added. The council demanded that encroachments be removed and that dumping of garbage in such areas be stopped forthwith. 

The matter came up before the bench headed by Chief Justice SK. Kaul and Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana. who passed interim orders that encroachments on water bodies be removed and dumping of garbage on them be stopped. The case has been posted to Feb 2, 2016.

It may be recalled that following the floods which submerged the city in the first week of this month, a demand was raised in various fora that the city suffered flooding due to the indiscriminate encroachment. Encroachments blocked the water’s normal access to the sea, resulting in residential areas being inundated. 

The High Court order has buoyed up people’s hopes that action will now be taken.