With prices shooting up, officials steps up surveillance to protect government land at Panjapur from encroachers

As government lands at Panjapur and its adjacent villages continue to face the danger of encroachment, the Revenue Department has stepped up vigil to protect them from encroachers.

As government land at Panjapur and its adjacent villages continue to face the danger of encroachment, the Revenue Department has stepped up vigil to protect them from encroachers.

Land prices in Manikandam block have gone up sharply after the Tiruchi City Corporation began the construction of the integrated bus terminus at Panjapur. The bus terminus project attracted the attention of real estate developers, who were mainly focused on Tiruchi. Their focus has been shifted to the villages situated along the Tiruchi-Madurai highway. Many are competing to sell plots.

However, the real estate developers are reported to be finding it difficult to find private landholdings in the close vicinity of the new bus terminus. It is mainly surrounded by government land and some waterbodies, including Panjapur lake. The Corporation has 574 acres of land at Panjapur. The site was acquired about 40 years ago by the erstwhile Tiruchi municipality. It was originally meant to be a dump but has now emerged as a major and valuable asset for the Corporation. Out of 574 acres, the civic body has allotted over 100 acres for the integrated bus terminus, truck terminal and the wholesale market for fruits, vegetables and flowers.

According to official sources, Panjapur was once classified as inam poromboke land. By taking advantage of this, some people were allegedly trying to claim ownership of the government land while some others were trying to encroach it.

A senior official told The Hindu that the Revenue Department was following a three-pronged strategy to protect the government land at Panjapur. It had identified the high-value government land and erected fence. It had put up notice boards at 12 places warning that encroachers would be prosecuted. There were some litigations, claiming ownership of some government land. Efforts were on to expedite the cases.

The official added that ₹2.1 crore under the Government Lands Retrieval and Protection Fund was allocated to the district. A portion of the allocation has been spent on fencing and protecting the government land at Panjapur.