Encroachment case: Sulur tahsildar yet to act despite HC order

COIMBATORE: Despite a Madras high court direction, the district administration has failed to take action to remove an encroachment from a government land in Edayarapalayam panchayat in Sulur. The high court on November 1 had ordered the tahsildar of Sulur to inspect the site and initiate action if the land was found to be encroached.
J Sampathkumar, of Sulur, had submitted a petition to the district administration a few months ago, alleging that the panchayat president of Edayarpalayam had encroached upon a 7.90 acres of government land. "He had divided the total land into plots of three cents each and had allotted it to the public," read the petition filed by Samapthkumar.
Acting on the petition, the district administration had erected a board on the site which stated that the land belonged to the state government. Following it, the encroacher had backed off.
Almost a month after the district administration erected the board on the said land, the panchayat president again started grabbing the land, Sampathkumar alleged. "I approached the district administration again. But they did not initiate any action. So, I had to file a petition with the Madras high court," Sampathkumar said.
Following Samapthkumar's plea, the Madras high court on November 1 ordered the tahsildar of Sulur to inspect the site. "An inspection should be carried out by the third respondent (tahsildar of Sulur) once again to verify the position within 15 days from the date of receipt of the order. If encroachment is proved, the second respondent (revenue divisional officer, Coimbatore South) should take action in accordance with the law after issuing notices to all concerned within a maximum period of two months thereafter," said the court order.
A senior official who was in the Sulur tahsildar office when Sampathkumar had first petitioned the district administration, said, "We had stopped the encroachment immediately. After that we are not aware what has happened."
When TOI tried to contact district collector T N Hariharan over phone, he was not reachable.