Clear water on streets or face action: Madras HC warns Corporation

The first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice PD Audikesavalu expressed their displeasure while hearing a PIL seeking directions to the Corporation to widen city roads and remove encroachments.

On recording the submission, the bench questioned the GCC at to what it had been doing for the past six years since the 2015 Chennai floods. “The city should not have experienced what it has been witnessing now as several parts are still marooned. The Chennai Corporation should have initiated proper steps and ensured minimum waterlogging during the rainfall season,” Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee said.

While hearing another plea moved by T Tamilarasan of Periyathirukkonam village in Ariyalur district, who sought the HC to direct the government to remove private encroachment from the Mamanakka lake, the bench directed the State to maintain all water channels properly so water could drain. “It is such a pity that (for) half the year we are longing for water, and the other half, we are dying in water. Such a situation arising in one of the most advanced states of the country in quite unthinkable,” the bench observed.

The judges also noted that the court has been coming across several cases of water encroachments. “We have seen cases where even the government is occupying water bodies. Authorities remove encroachments but after a period of time, it is again occupied by others,” the HC observed.