Picture courtesy: J ManoharanBy G Saravanan
Published on The New Indian Express on March 23, 2010:
CHENNAI: Land mafia in Ramapuram panchayat limit are out to convert about 40 cents (nine grounds) of government poromboke land meant for a pond as ‘plot for sale’ as the local body is yet to wake up to the issue.
According to locals, the brazen act of converting government land as private property and further putting it up for sale after reducing it to small plots is continuing even after an elected representative of the local body has sent a complaint to several authorities, including Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.
Speaking to Express, K Ramesh, Ward-1 member of the Ramapuram Panchayat where the disputed area is located, said, “While the state government is out to protect water bodies from the clutches of land sharks who in no time convert them as regular plots using fabricated documents, about 40 cents of land with survey number 207 at Ambal Nagar near Valasaravakkam are up for sale to gullible buyers since the local authorities are clearly evading to respond to the issue.”
According to locals, the brazen act of converting government land as private property and further putting it up for sale after reducing it to small plots is continuing even after an elected representative of the local body has sent a complaint to several authorities, including Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.
Speaking to Express, K Ramesh, Ward-1 member of the Ramapuram Panchayat where the disputed area is located, said, “While the state government is out to protect water bodies from the clutches of land sharks who in no time convert them as regular plots using fabricated documents, about 40 cents of land with survey number 207 at Ambal Nagar near Valasaravakkam are up for sale to gullible buyers since the local authorities are clearly evading to respond to the issue.”
After noticing hectic activities to mark the land into small plots for a possible sales a few days ago, Ramesh sent complaints to the Chief Minister, Tiruvallur District Collector and other local body officials concerned.
According to sources, the particular land designated for water storage in the locality actually measured 80 cents and land mafias had grabbed 40 cents of it some 25 years ago and sold them out to different people.
Land mafias have estimated the value of a cent of land (from the 40 cents) as Rs seven lakhs while an approved plot in the same locality fetches about Rs 15 lakh.
According to an elderly Ramapuram villager, who wished anonymity, the remaining 40 cents of land for which the grabbers are now out in the open, had been reportedly ‘sold’ to a big shot from Kerala using fabricated documents a few years ago. With the local opposition mounted against the ‘sales’, the buyer simply vanished from the area.
And now, the same land has been ‘bought’ by another man from Valasaravakkam locality reportedly for Rs 18 lakhs.
Since the state government is now using several methods to retrieve its encroached lands, he wants to dispose it off as early as possible, the villager said.
When contacted, Elumalai, Village Administrative Officer of Ramapuram said, “Not a single matter pertaining to the land came to my knowledge and I have to visit the site to tell more about it.”
Land mafias have estimated the value of a cent of land (from the 40 cents) as Rs seven lakhs while an approved plot in the same locality fetches about Rs 15 lakh.
According to an elderly Ramapuram villager, who wished anonymity, the remaining 40 cents of land for which the grabbers are now out in the open, had been reportedly ‘sold’ to a big shot from Kerala using fabricated documents a few years ago. With the local opposition mounted against the ‘sales’, the buyer simply vanished from the area.
And now, the same land has been ‘bought’ by another man from Valasaravakkam locality reportedly for Rs 18 lakhs.
Since the state government is now using several methods to retrieve its encroached lands, he wants to dispose it off as early as possible, the villager said.
When contacted, Elumalai, Village Administrative Officer of Ramapuram said, “Not a single matter pertaining to the land came to my knowledge and I have to visit the site to tell more about it.”
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