JUDGMENT :

P.D. AUDIKESAVALU, J.

1. The Petitioner in this Public Interest Litigation has raised serious concerns about the deplorable state of affairs caused by the indiscriminate encroachments on the water bodies, prevailing in the State of Tamil Nadu in the backdrop of acute water shortage and ecological degradation as a consequence thereof and has sought certain directions to deny certain rights and benefits enjoyed by the encroachers so that they do not reap the benefits of their own acts of wrong doing.

2. We may at once point out that there has not been any dearth of statutory provisions as well as orders passed by this Court for expeditious removal of the encroachments in the water bodies, atleast for the past 15 years.

3. The Division Bench of this Court in L. Krishnan vs. State of Tamil Nadu, (2005) 4 CTC 1 : (2005) 4 LW 415, held as follows:-

"14....Inasmuch as this Writ Petition has come before us by way of a Public Interest Litigation, we take this opportunity to direct the State Government to identify all such natural water resources in different parts of the State and wherever illegal encroachments are found, initiate appropriate steps in accordance with the relevant prov