Wall on Kartis site razed; Land grab plaint stays

Officials of the Chengalpet district administration oversaw the demolition of 8.5 metres of compound wall surrounding the premises of a property owned by Karti P Chidambaram and Nalini Chidambaram at the Karikattukuppam village off the ECR on Tuesday.

The demolition was said to be correction of an unintentionally extended compound and came less than a month after the South Indian Fishermen’s Association filed land grab and encroachment complaints against Karti.

Even as the fishermen’s group called the demolition a first victory in the matter, district officials said Karti’s representatives had asked them to measure the property and clarify the extent to which the compound should exist.

“They had asked us to mark out the correct length. We had measured it not too long ago. And today, since we found the time, we were present when their own contractors demolished the part of the compound wall that shouldn’t have been built,” Chengalpet Tahsildar Illango told Express.

Reflecting the Tahsildar’s statement, Karti’s counsel Arun Natarajan told Express that the request for demarcation had come from Karti’s  end voluntarily in the light of confusion over the fishermen’s complaint.

“It is not like officials came and demolished the compound. My client has done it voluntarily. The records for all other portions of land are in our possession, and there is no discrepancy in their ownership,” Arun Natarajan said.

But South Indian Fishermen Association president Jaya Palayan insisted the 8.5-metre transgression was only the tip of the iceberg.

“They claim the size of their property is 5.11 acre. But the compound wall they have built contains 14 acre,” he claimed. “In our complaint to the Chennai Police Commissioner on September 3, we had lined out three violations committed by Karti Chidambaram. One was the  encroachment on poromboke land. This has been addressed with the demolition of the compound. The other two aspects had to do with CRZ violations and encroachment on unclaimed lands,” he added.

Palayan said he would present the complaint and related details to the Kanchipuram Collector on Wednesday.