The first bench of Madras High Court on Thursday passed an order directing officials not to register lands classified as waterbodies. The order is aimed at preventing encroachments.
“The registration department should never register land which was already classified as a water body. The authorities should check before initiating the registration procedure to protect the waterbodies from the illegal encroachments,” the court order read.
The court has also made it mandatory for the applicant to give a self declaration that they are not applying for a waterbody to be registered as patta land. The court added that, “If such declaration is not provided, registration should be avoided. Also, the Tangedco and local administration shall not provide power and water connection to people who fail to provide such undertaking.”
The high court instructed the state to retrieve all the encroached waterbodies.
“If any constructions were made on the land which was classified as the waterbodies, the competent authorities shall initiate prosecution/disciplinary actions against the officials who granted the approval/permission for the construction works,” the court said.
Post the recent floods in the state, Chief Secretary V Irainabu was asked to give a detailed report by the court on waterbodies that were encroached upon. The chief secretary had then filed a counter-affidavit listing the encroachments and also the steps taken by the government to prevent and recover the encroachments.
READ | What is the difficulty in making Hindi a third language in educational institutions?
Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/law/story/madras-high-court-order-land-registration-waterbodies-encroachment-1905310-2022-01-27
