"Waterbodies are the lifeline to any place where people live and it is doubly so for Chennai, which often suffers from scarcity of water. With this being the case, it is sad that encroachments were made on lakes and rivers," she said.



Tamilisai further said that while removing encroachments, the public works department should be careful. "Houses and huts of those from the Adi Dravida community at Thiruverkadu should not be removed," she said.

The BJP leader, who was accompanied by party functionaries, said that the recent victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh was a testimony to the confidence people have on its leadership and the central government led by prime minister Narendra Modi.