Will Manapparai municipality ever get possession of the
96-year-old reading room and the 1.22-acre site on which it is
constructed? Now the municipality has moved the Madurai Bench of the
Madras High Court in this regard.

Despite S. Malathi,
secretary, Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department,
categorically directing the Collector in 1997 to help the municipality
take possession of the land without any impediments, it was not handed
over to the civic body. But the Revenue Department took possession and
retained the same for use as Taluk Supply Office. After 2005, as the
building became dilapidated, it was allowed to remain unused.

Similarly,
Niranjan Mardi, secretary, Municipal Administration and Water Supply,
in his communication to the Collector on February 28, 2007, wanted him
to hand over the site to the local body immediately.

He
dismissed the letter of the tahsildar to the commissioner of Manapparai
municipality asking for remitting the land cost as “irrelevant and not
germane to the case”. He has also pointed out that the site lies
unutilised with a dilapidated tiled building on its premises. Now the
chairperson of the municipality, V. Shantha Veerachamy, has moved the
Madras High Court seeking possession of the property as the village
register has classified it as “local fund reading room”. She has
submitted that at present, the property, which is in the heart of the
municipality, remains unutilised and none of the government authorities
is utilising it.

If the property was handed over to
the municipality, it could be utilised for the welfare of the
municipality and the general public. She has suggested that the
municipality augment the revenue by constructing a multipurpose shopping
complex there because this site is between the bus stand and the
railway station.

The municipal council passed a
resolution on November 27, 2012, directing the chairperson to take up
the matter with the government.

However, the
Principal Secretary and Commissioner of Land Administration, in his
letter dated July 5, 2010, had said “as the municipality has failed to
maintain the land free from encroachment when it was under its control
as reading room and a legal battle had been fought to take possession of
the land from encroachers”, the municipality need not be permitted
inside the land to carry out any activities. “The request of the
municipality lacks merit and is rejected.”