Acquisition of Jayalalithaa’s Poes Garden residence will be completed by June, Chennai district collector says

CHENNAI: Chennai district collector A Shanmuga Sundram on Wednesday said acquisition of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa's residence at Poes Garden here for converting it into a memorial would be completed by June.

Briefing reporters on the sidelines of a public hearing on acquiring of Veda Nilayam, the residence of the late chief minister, the collector said it would be the first property to be acquired after the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 came into effect.

"We will get the final report on the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and send that to an expert committee. Subsequently, the report on public hearing will also be given to the department of Tamil development and information department," he said.

Earlier, AIADMK cadre and residents of Poes Garden were divided over converting the residence into a memorial. While the party workers from Poes Garden and neighbourhood demanded a memorial in the house where she resided, the local residents vehemently opposed the move saying it would put traffic out of the gear. The district collector intervened to clarify that public movement could not be restricted in public places, which was unconstitutional.



It may be recalled that the social impact assessment conducted by a consultant appointed by the Chennai district collectorate on December 8 last year gave a go-ahead for the project citing that it was within the ambit of the government order.