Tamil Nadu: 118 government staff in dock for not evicting Meghamalai lands

MADURAI: The Theni District Collector, R Vaithinathan, has ordered departmental action against 118 government employees for failing to evict as directed by the Supreme Court in the Meghamalai encroachment case.

The order came in the wake of a recent Supreme Court hearing, during which the judges asked the State government whether it had complied with the court’s direction to remove encroachers, including 118 government employees.

Based on the recommendations of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), the Supreme Court, in its May order, directed the Tamil Nadu government to implement a time-bound eviction plan to clear long-pending encroachments in protected forests, take action against government employees who encroached, and restore reclaimed forest land. The court also observed that paramilitary assistance could be sought if required.

The CEC identified 4,601 persons as having allegedly encroached upon 5,072 hectares of forest land in the Meghamalai Forest Division. The report stated that 118 people working in various government departments were among them, including personnel from the CRPF, police, agriculture, anganwadi and noon-meal schemes, village administration, health, postal services, fair-price shops, hostels, the electricity board, schools, rural development, Tasmac and fire services.

The Collector has issued directions to the heads of the concerned departments, along with the list of alleged encroachers, and asked them to submit an action-taken report at the earliest.