Believing a rumour that the government would regularise encroachments, over 850 people on Tuesday laid claim to a 50-acre stretch of vacant government land at Kannimakadu near Chithode in Erode district.
The land is located near a hillock where people have been gathering for the past few days. They marked out plots of 1.25 cents each, placed stones and fenced them off with ropes.
A labourer, T. Muthu from Chithode, told The Hindu that they wanted the administration to allot the plots to them and hence they had demarcated them. Though there was no such proposal from the administration, they assembled on their own and chalked out the land parcels, he added.
As soon as the issue came to the attention of the authorities, the district administration alerted the revenue officials and the police who later visited the spot. Officials clarified to the people that there was no proposal to allot plots for them.
However, they said the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board was constructing tenements at Sanarpalayam and eligible people could give applications and get houses allotted. Later, in the evening, the crowd left the place.
Huts put up
Revenue officials said huts were put up by a few people near the tenements at Sanarpalayam encroaching on government land. They believed that the encroached land would be given to them. As the rumour spread, people decided to encroach on the land at Kannimakadu, they added.
District Revenue Officer S. Kavitha told The Hindu that it is poramboke land and the stone markings would be removed soon. She warned that action would be initiated against persons who attempted to encroach on government land.