The Times of India             01.02.2014 

Coimbatore municipal corporation upon encroached reserve plot

COIMBATORE: The city municipal corporation, on a mission to reclaim reserve sites and remove encroachments, has stumbled upon a 12.36 cent reserve site in PM Samy Colony here in Rathinapuri with concrete structure encroachments. The site has been surveyed and uploaded in the list of reserve sites on the civic body's web portal with official remarks that encroachments be removed.

Ironically, the squatters are not private parties who could be evicted using civic machinery, but a police station, Tangedco assistant engineer's office and the local post office. These function out of three separate buildings at the site that have been rented out to these departments. "We will take procedures to get the land transferred to the city corporation. It is rightfully Open Reserve Space and has to be handed over to the civic body. We are not getting any rent from the property," said S Sivarasu, deputy commissioner, Coimbatore Municipal Corporation.

The issue was also raised at the corporation council meeting held here on Thursday. Rathinapuri ward No 48 councillor R Prabhakaran pointed out that the civic body should take immediate steps.

"Some private individuals from the locality are collecting rent from the police, electricity and post office," Prabhakaran added.

While TOI visited B 15 Rathinapuri police station, police personnel confirmed that the police station was on rent and was shifted to the premises about six years ago. The employees at the TANGEDCO office also said the same but claimed they did not have any information about private individuals collecting rent for the buildings. "I recently joined here in Rathinapuri police station and I am not aware about this matter," said D Suresh, Inspector, Rathinapuri police station.

Senior officials at the city municipal corporation added that the matter will be brought to the notice of the corporation commissioner but will has to be dealt with carefully as the encroachments were rented out to vital government departments . A senior official with the town planning wing of the corporation added that they will consult their legal department for further appropriate action.

As per the reserve site survey list of the corporation on its website, the 12.36 cent plot in PM Samy Colony is one among the eight reserve sites surveyed in the ward.