Following a DC report about a private party encroaching upon government poramboke land and renting it out for a police station, revenue authorities in the city swung into action.
Sholinganallur tahsildar has written to the assistant commissioner (police) of Medavakkam, instructing him to immediately stop paying rent to the ‘owner’ for the 700 sq ft building he had rented out to Pallikaranai police station.
Senior revenue officials told this paper that the tahsildar has also given oral instructions to PWD (public works department) officials to issue eviction notice and retrieve the land.
PWD maintains that the land is part of a vast stretch of water body poramboke, falling under survey No. 303 in Pallikaranai revenue village.
A detailed report on retrieving the water body poramboke land from the private encroacher and transferring it to the police station was also being prepared, the sources added.
DC had carried a report, titled ‘Police station pays up to private party’, on September 8, highlighting how the police were paying rent to a “land shark” who had grabbed the government water body.
The report also unearthed how the encroacher, who had been collecting rent from Pallikaranai police since 2007, had the audacity to ask them to pay more very recently.
Revenue officials, who confirmed the crackdown on the land-grabber, said the department has not decided on transferring the land to the police yet as another land has been earmarked in the area for the police station.