Mullai Nagar residents fear ending up in no man’s land if evicted without any alternative

Residents of Mullai Nagar and nearby areas fear eviction without alternative housing, highlighting poor water management and land administration.

Residents of Mullai Nagar and other nearby areas, who received eviction notice from the Public Works Department, fear they would end up in no man’s land if they are forcefully evicted without being provided any alternative place to reside. 

The recent heavy rain, which exposed the fault lines in water management and land administration, has forced the district administration to take action against the ‘encroachments’ on water catchment areas. Hence, earlier this month, the Water Resource Department of PWD issued eviction notices to houses located in areas such as Mullai Nagar, Netaji Nagar, BB Kulam. 

Manikandan, a resident of Mullai Nagar who received the notice, said they had received notices implying that their houses were built in water catchments areas of BB Kulam kanmai and they had to vacate before November 10, or the authorities would forcefully clear the encroachments the next day.  

“The plot on which we have built our house was allotted to us by the then Slum Clearance Board under ex-servicemen quota. Around 200 plots were allotted and most of the occupants built concrete houses and they have been living in the area for more than six decades,” he said.  

Though the residents approached the High Court against the eviction order in 2017, the case was dismissed and an order was passed favouring the government.  

In this situation, both the DMK and AIADMK governments gave assurance to the residents that they would be given patta for their lands and would not be evicted, he said.  

But the recent rain exposed the poor water management of PWD in maintaining water bodies, especially the Alangulam kanmai, Pandalkudi channel and Sellur kanmai, among others, where water forcefully entered into residential areas.