East of Nanjundapuram Road, abutting the main canal (Raja Vaikal) that takes water to the Singanallur Tank, the construction of a structure measuring 10x10 feet is progressing fast. The structure is a few feet above the ground.
People in the vicinity say the residents in the neighbourhood have planned to raise a temple. But it is close to the very spot where the State Highways Department demolished a few houses in 2017 to widen the road, say environment activists, who wished to remain anonymous.
This structure, though a few feet away from the road, falls on the land belonging to the Public Works Department and abuts the canal bund. It is clearly an encroachment and will affect the flow of water, particularly during monsoon, they say.
They want the Department to remove the structure at the earliest to avoid further complications.
The canal is five-km-long, starts from River Noyyal at Merku Pudur and carries water to the tank.
The Department sources say that there is no doubt on the structure being an encroachment but the question is whether the land that is encroached belongs to the PWD or the State Highways.
To ascertain land ownership, the PWD has written to the Revenue Department and Coimbatore Corporation asking them to depute their surveyors to ascertain the ownership. Once that is done and it becomes clear that it owns the land, the PWD will demolish it.
If it is the State Highways Department's it is for the officers there to evict the encroachment.