T Nagar families caught between patta and NOC in 20-year fight for electricity

CHENNAI: For more than 20 years, residents of Thanakottiyammal Thottam and Muthureddy Thottam in T Nagar have been seeking electricity connections, with the status of the land being poromboke leaving several houses without power.

This is despite the Tamil Nadu electricity regulations allowing connections to houses on poramboke land under certain conditions.

More than 230 families live in the two settlements, which have been occupied for several generations. The demand for electricity came to the fore again on September 9, when more than 50 residents staged a protest outside the substation on Bazullah Road.

“We’re asking for electricity for decades, They had provided water and sewer connections but they drew the line on electricity,” said Ravi, a resident from Muthureddy Thottam. “We’re tired of repeated protests.”

Residents have been caught in a dispute over the status of the land. When they approached the Revenue Department for an NOC, officials said that the land did not fall under their control and therefore, the NOC could not be issued. When the land was treated as private land, residents were asked to produce patta, they say.

Under Regulation 27 (12) of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Distribution Code, electricity can be provided to houses on poramboke land with an NOC from the concerned government authority. Residents have to give an undertaking that the connection does not give them ownership and that they will vacate if the government requires it.

“The settlements date back several decades,” said CPM T Nagar Block secretary M Kumar. “Families are said to have been living there since 1935, having migrated from Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu and Tiruvannamalai.”

The land, which exceeded the ceiling limit, was acquired by the government under the Land Ceiling Act of 1956. It was not subsequently taken up for development and remained as it was. The Slum Clearance Board declared the area as recognised slum-clearance land in 1972, while a relaxation introduced in 1984 allowed former inhabitants to make claims over the land.

Water and sewer connections were also not provided initially, but these were subsequently secured following court proceedings. The electricity issue, however, persisted. A case was filed in 2003 and an order was obtained in 2004, following which electricity was provided to 40 families in February 2005.

Meanwhile, the State government is now planning to make it easier for some such houses to get electricity by allowing domestic connections on certain categories of poramboke land without an NOC. But the proposed provision is limited to houses with a built-up area of not more than 250 sq ft.

The proposed provision will not cover all categories of poramboke land. Water Course Poramboke, Meikkal, Mandaveli/Meichchal Tharai Poramboke, forest land, railway and other Union government land, patta land belonging to religious institutions and Temple Poramboke land have been excluded.