Kargil Nagar dwellings: City Collector gets summons

A division bench comprising Justice Vineet Kothari and Justice R Suresh Kumar before whom the plea challenging the Government Order allowing such construction by a nearby colony of employees of Ashok Leyland came up directed the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board to produce the original records for showing the status of the plans made for such construction which has already taken place, amount so far spent on such construction and whether allotments of tenements have been made or not.

The bench had sought for the original records since recommendations were made by the concerned authorities for the issue of the impugned GO No 381, June 29, 2005 by which the ban on the construction on the land in question known a Kargil Nagar, an alleged water body, was relaxed by the State Government and blocks of tenements for Tsunami victims have been constructed.

The present public interest litigation challenges such relaxation of the ban on the submission that if the waterbody of Kargil Nagar is allowed to be used for construction of the tenements in question, then the overflow of water from the nearby Buckingham canal if any, when it happens, is likely to flow into their colony and other neighbouring areas, which may cause prejudice to them.

The bench was also informed that even after filing of the present PIL in 2018, the construction of the said tenement is now in progress.