The duty of Municipal authorities to maintain public amenities and ensure no nuisance is created to the residents.

S. Manikumar, J.

1. Claiming himself to be a public interest litigant, Mr. N. Pannagasayanan, Secretary, Jayanagar Residents Welfare Association, has filed the instant public interest litigation for a Mandamus, forbearing the respondents, from converting the park site land measuring to an extent of 14400 sq.ft in Survey No.12, Block No.2 of Tiruppattur Town, Sivaraj Pettai, at Yahaya Lay out Approval No.38 of 1976, Jaya Nagar, Tirupattur Town, Vellore District, into a solid waste dumping yard or for any other purpose and to develop and maintain the park.

2. Petitioner has contended that Yahaya Lay out has been approved by the Commissioner, Tirupattur Municipality, the 3rd respondent herein, in Lay out Approval No.38 of 1976 in No. F1 1472 / 1976 dated 24.7.1976. There are totally 96 number of residential plots in the aforesaid approved layout now known as Jaya Nagar and the residents have formed a registered association called as Jayanagar Residents Welfare Association in the year 2002. There are 53 number of houses in the aforesaid layout.

3. Petitioner has further submitted that in the aforesaid approved lay out, to an extent of 14400 sq.ft of land in Survey No.12, Block No.2 of Tiruppatur Town, has been earmarked as park site. The said park site has also been handed over to the Commissioner, Tirupattur Municipality, Vellore District/3rd respondent herein. The aforesaid place is being utilized as a park by the local residents, though the respondents did not take steps to develop the park. The local residents used to walk in the aforesaid park site and it is the only open space available to the local residents that is being used by them for recreational purpose. The children used to play in the open site.

4. Petitioner has further submitted that the petitioner's association executed a Gift Deed dated 29.03.2010 handing over the aforesaid 14400 sq.ft of park site land, to the 3rd respondent/Municipality and the same was registered, as Document No.3164 of 2010, in the office of the Sub - Registrar, Tirupattur. Thus, the entire duty is on the respondents, to develop the same into a park for the use of local residents. But to the contrary, now the 3rd respondent, is collecting and dumping daily solid waste materials collected from house hold and making segregation of degradable waste and non-degradable waste with the help of the men working in the office of respondents 2 and 3. The same is highly objectionable to all the local residents. The same would cause serious health hazard to the local residents, who are staying nearby. Moreover, bad smell is also coming out of the same and the residents who are staying nearby are suffering a lot. He further submitted that due to the dumping of waste into park site on day to day basis, the local residents and children, are not able to utilize the park for walking and playing.

5. Petitioner has further submitted that several complaints were made by the local residents and the association to the respondents herein, no action was taken. The second and third respondents, are not heeding to the request of the petitioner and the local residents, that park should not be converted into a solid waste dumping yard. The respondents are duty bound to develop and maintain the park, as the lands is gifted for the aforesaid purpose only. In those circumstances, the petitioner has issued a legal notice dated 02.03.2018 through his advocate, to the respondents herein, asking them to stop the dumping of waste in the park site, to improve and maintain the park, but no action is taken. Therefore, the petitioner sent a representation dated 22.1.2019, to the Commissioner, Tirupattur Municipality, Vellore District, the third respondent herein, stating that it is illegal to dump waste materials in the park site. Though the same was acknowledged by the respondents, nothing happened. Hence, the petitioner