Chennai: Good things are happening in the neighbourhood as the civic body is actively engaging in several public works.
A few days ago, the Chennai Corporation reclaimed a property belonging to Dhandeeswaram temple at Karunambigai Colony by evicting 19 families who lived on rent in a multi-storey building, which was built on the said spot.
Following a High Court order, Assistant Commissioner, Chennai Corporation, Tamil Selvan; Assistant Executive Engineer, R Murali; Assistant Engineer, Ezhil Arasan, along with other civic body and HR & CE officials came to the spot to carry out the eviction. They were accompanied by 50 policemen.
Speaking to this paper, an official source said, “The two grounds of land belonging to the temple was occupied by an individual for close to 15 years. He had rented out portions of the building to 19 families.”
The land is said to be worth several crores of rupees. When the case was taken to the High Court, the verdict came in favour of the temple. Subsequently, water and electricity connection were disconnected to the building. Following this, HR & CE sent notice to the families living in the building.
Although the residents had requested for additional time, it was denied. Around nine families vacated earlier and the remaining left on the day of eviction. As the families carried their belongings out one by one, the houses were sealed by officials.
Neighbourhood lake cleaned
In another positive move, the 55-acre Velacheri lake is being cleaned by civic officials using an amphibious machine brought from Finland.
This expansive lake can be used to store 21 million tonnes of water. But sadly, the water bed was covered with hyacinths, which is harmful for marine flora and fauna. The residents had often requested officials to get it cleaned and de-silted.
Now, the cleaning work has begun here, and the residents are a happy lot. The new machine floats on water and helps clear hyacinths and other waste dumped in the lake. Executive Engineer Murali examined the process. It is said that the cleaning work will get over in 15 days.