Coimbatore Corporation faces criticism over delay in reclaiming OSR lands

Coimbatore Corporation has come under criticism for alleged negligence and delay in reclaiming Open Space Reservation (OSR) land in the city.

S.P. Thiyagarajan, social activist and secretary of the Tamil Nadu Reserved Site Protection Association, alleged that the Corporation has been slow to act on an encroachment of 13 cents of OSR land, valued at around ₹3.5 crore, despite the Madras High Court recently dismissing the encroacher’s petition.

The land in question is situated at Meenakshi Nagar layout in Saravanampatti, within Ward 4. Mr. Thiyagarajan said the layout was approved over 32 years ago, when Saravanampatti was a town panchayat. The plan covered 5.04 acres, including 54 residential plots, with 50 cents (21,981 sq. ft.) reserved for a public park.

Official records show that the reserved site and internal roads were handed over to the then Saravanampatti Town Panchayat through a registered gift deed in 1993. Subsequently, 13 cents of the OSR land were reportedly encroached upon by a neighbouring property owner. In July 2021, the Corporation’s Town Planning Officer (TPO) issued a notice directing the encroachment to be removed.

The encroacher challenged the notice in the Madras High Court, seeking to have it quashed and requesting alternative land. After nearly five years, a Division Bench comprising Justices S.M. Subramaniam and Kumarappan dismissed the petition on December 19 this year.

Mr. Thiyagarajan said that notwithstanding the dismissal of the petition, the Corporation did not initiate follow-up action. He claimed that Town planning officials, along with police personnel, had completed preliminary arrangements to demolish the encroaching compound wall using an earthmover to reclaim the land. However, he alleged that political intervention by influential persons led to a last-minute directive from the Commissioner to suspend the operation, contrary to the High Court’s order.

Mr. Thiyagarajan also criticised the Corporation over 13 cents of OSR land in the E.V. Ramasamy Periyar Nagar layout, where encroachments have not yet been fully removed despite notices being issued.

A senior Corporation official said the High Court had dismissed the encroacher’s petition, and the official order is awaited. Encroachments on approved OSR lands are being reviewed and removed zone-wise, with 14 cleared this year. In Ward 52 (E.V. Ramasamy Periyar Nagar), private fencing has been removed, a notice board installed, and final notices issued to two encroaching property owners, with action to remove the encroachments under way.