School Building On Noombal Pond Must Be Removed Within 12 Weeks, Madras HC Directs Officials

The petitioner sought a writ of mandamus directing the official respondents to remove alleged encroachments by the tenth respondent, ACS Medical College and Hospital, from a pond in Survey No. 35, Noombal Village, and restore it as a pond under the Tamil Nadu Protection of Tanks and Eviction of Encroachment Act, 2007.

The Tahsildar’s status report stated that a survey based on revenue records identified encroachments and that the Field Measurement Book showed a pond in the north-eastern part of the survey number. The report further stated that land classified as a water body had been used for a school building operated by the tenth respondent

The Court referred to the Tamil Nadu Protection of Tanks and Eviction of Encroachment Act, 2007, and the relevant rules in force as the framework for enforcement action against encroachments

It held that water bodies must be protected by the State and that construction or encroachment in a water body cannot be regularized

The Tahsildar’s report established, on the basis of revenue records and the Field Measurement Book, both the existence of a pond in Survey No. 35 and the use of land classified as a water body for a building operated by the tenth respondent

On those reported findings, the Court concluded that the Tahsildar had a duty to initiate enforcement action and that the official respondents were required to follow the applicable statutory procedures to remove the encroachment and protect the water body

No costs were awarded, and the connected miscellaneous petition was closed