Authorities must monitor and evict encroachments on water bodies to uphold public property protections.

(Order of the Court was made by S.M.SUBRAMANIAM, J.)

The present Contempt Petition has been instituted to punish the respondents for their wilful disobedience of the order dated 16.10.2023 in W.P.No.29777 of 2023.

2. The Joint Secretary to Government, Water Resources Department, Secretariat, Chennai – 600 009 has filed a compliance affidavit and the relevant paragraph No.6 is extracted hereunder:-

6. I further humbly submit that on receipt of the details of the encroachment i.e., Form-I and Form-II, from the Tahsildar, Madurantakam, Form III notice was issued on 20.06.2024 to the above said encroacher by the Assistant Engineer, Water Resources Department, under the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Protection of Tanks and Eviction of Encroachment Act, 2007. Thereafter, the encroachment was evicted by the Assistant Engineer, Water Resources Department, Irrigation Section, Madurantakam on 27.06.2024 in presence of the local revenue officials. Hence, I submit that the encroachment made by said Surulirajan was evicted as per the orders of this Hon’ble Court and there are no encroachments in S.F.No.495 of Budur Village in Madurantakam Taluk.

3. The learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that again encroachments are made in the same location and he filed another Writ Petition in W.P.No.11056 of 2025.

4. If at all any further encroachments are made, the Authorities are bound to monitor and evict the encroachments by following the procedures. Mere eviction of encroachments would be insufficient and the water bodies and public properties are to be protected by the competent Authority in the manner contemplated under law. Monitoring of encroachments is of paramount importance, more specifically in water bodies. This being the duty mandated on the public Authorities, they are expected to perform their duties vigilantly by protecting the water bodies and public properties. If any encroachments are identified, the respondents shall evict the same by following the procedures.

5. With the above observations, this Contempt Petition stands closed (S.M.S., J.) (K.S.,J.)