Police station on Chennai waterbody: Madras High Court seeks unique grasp plan from CMDA

The Madras High Court on Thursday (August 14, 2025) directed Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) to submit earlier than the courtroom, by subsequent week, the unique grasp plan associated to the locality across the Tamaraikani tank at Shozhinganallur in Chennai, to find out whether or not the Semmenchery police station had been constructed on the waterbody or not.

First Division Bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice Sunder Mohan made it clear that they might not allow the police station constructing, which had not been inaugurated since 2019 because of interim orders handed by the courtroom, to grow to be operational if it was discovered to have been constructed on the waterbody and even on the catchment areas round it.

The judges referred to as for the grasp plan in the course of the listening to of a 2019 public curiosity litigation (PIL) petition filed by Arappor Iyakkam, an anti-corruption organisation represented by its managing trustee Jayaram Venkatesan. The petitioner organisation had complained to the courtroom concerning the State having constructed the police station on a sprawling waterbody within the metropolis.

In April 2021, a Bench led by the then Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee had ordered for an in depth examine by the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) college to search out out whether or not the police station and different institutions had encroached upon the water physique as claimed by the petitioner organisation. Accordingly, the professors from the division of civil engineering took up the duty.

The specialists discovered that Tamaraikani tank was a part of Periya Eri, which was a mosaic of tanks additionally consisting of Valaleri tank and Velalkani tank. Tamaraikani tank was initially unfold over 13.47 hectare as per the Public Works Department’s tank memoir and it had been irrigating round 250 acres. However, now, there had been large-scale encroachment by personal and authorities establishments.

“There had been blatant and full encroachment throughout the total extent of Periya Eri… The encroachment is sort of full on the center portion, whereas the encroachment is sort of 60% to 70% on the southern facet. On the northern facet, within the Thamaraikani tank, the encroachment is by a Tangedco electrical energy sub-station and the brand new Semmenchery police station,” the college members instructed the courtroom.

“For any significant and important hydrological impression, and full restoration of the waterbody, the elimination of encroachments needs to be in whole and with none exceptions,” the college members opined. It was after the receipt of their report, the courtroom ordered that the police station shouldn’t be made purposeful till additional orders and in addition prohibited building of any new buildings on the waterbody.