Greater Chennai Corporation has reclaimed 4.3 acres of its land from an educational trust in Shenoy Nagar.
The market value of the property is more than Rs 280 crore, according to officials.
They said the land was leased to Thiru Vi Ka Dr. Mu Va Educational Trust for a period of 33 years, from 1962 until 1995. After the lease period ended, the civic body issued a notice to the trust to handover the land to it. But, the trust contested it legally.
As both the Madras high court and the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the corporation, the civic body took possession of the land on Thursday.
A notice board has been put up on the spot and temporary barricades have been erected by the civic body to prevent trespassers. Two schools run by the trust are located adjacent to the property in contention and the area was used as a playground.
This is the latest in a series of anti-encroachment drives conducted by the corporation. Already land worth several hundred crores of rupees on the banks of Cooum and Adyar has been retrieved by the local body by evicting encroachers.
Last week, the civic body took possession of land valued at Rs 80crore and measuring 39,127sqft encroached by Anna Nagar Towers Club since 1993. This was two days after the Madras high court upheld the corporation’s eviction order.
