Stones and poles placed on the Cooum river bed as boundary markers near Arumbakkam have raised concerns over encroachment among residents.
They fear it may lead to shrinking of the waterway and affect the efforts to restore the river. However, it turned out to be a tussle for ownership of land between the Water Resources Department (WRD) and the Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB).
B. Kasturi, a resident of Muthumariamman Nagar, said a few days ago, she spotted stones marked in white and yellow paint and wooden poles on both the river bed and in the water.
Several encroached structures had been cleared in the area two years ago and people were given alternative accommodation in Padappai and Tiruvottiyur. TNHB authorities had engaged machinery to level the land near the river bank a fortnight ago, she said.
Residents wanted the issue to be solved and the river to be restored to its original width.
According to officials of the WRD, TNHB authorities had sought a no objection certificate for construction on the department’s land along the river bank in Arumbakkam.
“We inspected the area and found the boundary markers on the river bed. We have informed the board that the 120 m of land from the existing river bank belongs to the WRD as per the field measurement book (FMB),” a WRD official said. The WRD has sought a surveyor from the Survey and Land Records Department to measure the FMB of the lands belonging to it and to the TNHB.
According to sources in the TNHB, a 8.5 acre plot of land had been earmarked for development in Muthumariamman Nagar, Arumbakkam. The land near the Cooum was earlier measured by surveyors from the Revenue Department.
“We will measure the TNHB land for reverification of the FMB,” an official said.