The Coimbatore Corporation North Zone chairman P. Rajkumar has requested the district administration to prevent some individuals from usurping a piece of public land in Ganapathy here.

The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader submitted a petition to Collector M. Karunagaran during the public grievance meeting held at the Collectorate on Monday.

In his petition, he said that in 46{+t}{+h}ward coming under his zone, a piece of vacant land measuring 1,740 sq.m., located adjacent to the Lord Vinayaka Temple, was registered to the Commissioner of Coimbatore Corporation.

It was used as a temple land since the Ganapathy village was formed and later used as a choultry before being converted into a bazaar for Sunday markets. After the market was shifted due to traffic hassles, the land had been lying vacant and was used by the common public for general purposes.

However, recently some individuals had prepared a “forged document” converting the public land into private property and had obtained favourable court orders also.

They had also allegedly tried to fence it after getting the TSLR (Town Survey Land Records) number.

Mr. Rajkumar urged the Collector to initiate stringent action against those found violating the law in this regard.