Corpn reclaims seven cents of land at Bharathi Nagar

Coimbatore: The city corporation removed encroachments on seven cents of land earmarked as reserved site at Bharathi Nagar near Kavundampalayam in the city on Saturday.
Five discarded four-wheelers that have been at the reserved site for almost a decade were also removed.
“Initially, the number of houses constructed in the locality was minimum and there was enough vacant space. We did not oppose then. But now, without any space, children were forced to play on the road,” said K Anbu Priyan, vice-president of Bharathi Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association. Close to 100 houses have come up in the layout that is almost three decades old, he added.
Pointing out that encroachers had damaged both the fencings and the board which was installed by the corporation claiming the ownership of the reserved site, he said that they had sought the intervention of the corporation officials only in December when the encroachers had started parking more number of cars at the site.
The corporation had intervened only after the residents staged a protest in January, he said. Meanwhile, the civic body issued a letter on May 19 directing the encroachers to remove the cars within three days and warned of removing the encroachments themselves upon failing to do so.
As the encroachments remained on the reserved site even as the deadline crossed, the civic body had removed it with the help of earthmovers on Saturday. A corporation source said that steps would also be taken to fence the land at the earliest.
Anbu Priyan said the site could be developed into a park.