About 400 squatters along Adyar river at Anakaputhur have been issued demolition notice by the state water resources department (WRD) after they refused to cooperate with officials taking up biometric and other verification works. One week’s time has been given for eviction, and notices were pasted on the encroaching properties.
A senior WRD official said a team along with the Chennai corporation, TN Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB), and Revenue authorities identified the number of encroachers along the river and started collecting their biometrics and verifing their aadhaar and ration cards.
However, unhappy with the rehabilitation process, the squatters refused to cooperate with the officials.
The demolition work is supposed to have started a week ago. However, it has been delayed as the squatters resisted the officials’ move. Hence, the WRD has now issued notices giving them a week’s time for evacuation following which the encroachments will be demolished.
“We have proposed to rehabilitate them in the recently contructed TNUHDB tenements. We issued the demolition notices as they refused to cooperate,” the official said.
The WRD authorities on Friday demolished a dozen shops and four unoccupied houses, which had been constructed illegally on the banks of Adyar river. These properties were located close to the Anakaputhur bus stand.
Notices had been issued to these shops and there was not much resistance from owners, the official said.