Police claim Villivakkam pond ‘ownership’, locals not amused

CHENNAI: You can find the Thathan Kuppam pond when you enter Bajanakoil Street in Villivakkam. Or even easier if you search for it on Google Maps. The clear water, which locals say is as much as 10-ft deep, and the cranes hunting for fishes suggest that the pond has a healthy ecosystem. But the only odd thing is a board declaring, “This land belongs to V-4 Rajamangalam police station.”

“How can a pond belong to the police department?” wonders Jenny*, who lives in the  neighbourhood.
However, when The New Indian Express investigated, it emerged that it is not just the police who want to take the ‘land’ to build a police station. Four brothers, who locals claim enjoy political clout, have gone to court claiming the land is their ancestral property. Already squeezed tight by buildings on all sides, the water from the pond even touches the road during rainy days.

Locals thank the pond for the good groundwater they enjoy. But the Thathan Kuppam pond is on the verge of joining the list of ‘disappeared’ water bodies in the city with powerful people, including the police, claiming the ‘land’ for themselves.

“We were given the land by the collector when we requested for space to construct a revamped Rajamangalam Police Station,” says a supervising engineer at the Police Housing Corporation. “This property has been ours since 1823 and when my grandfather was the village head in the 1960s, he allowed people to use the pond,” says Elango, one of the brothers, claiming rights over the ‘land’. (*name changed)