The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has officially confirmed that a 4,306 sq ft plot of government land located in Kodungaiyur belongs to the Chennai Collectorate and not to Velachery MLA J M H Aassan Maulaana. The GCC has now announced plans to remove encroachments on the land and subsequently build a road on it.
This plot of land, situated in block 22, survey number 8 of Erukkencheri village in Perambur taluk, connects Sannathi Street and Ramakrishna Street in Kodungaiyur’s Krishnamoorthy Nagar (East). However, the land had been encroached upon and enclosed by a compound wall and debris.
On August 8, 2024, the GCC commissioner J Kumaragurubaran wrote to district collector Rashmi Siddharth Zagade requesting the demarcation of the government land’s boundaries. The commissioner stated, “It is government poramboke land. The nodal officer is the district collector,” emphasizing the municipality’s authority to act against unauthorized structures.
The dispute over the land ownership has been ongoing, with the Velachery MLA previously claiming it as family property and challenging the GCC’s attempts to remove the encroachments. On June 29, 2024, Aassan Maulaana intervened, asserting his family’s claim and stating that the ownership issue was pending in the Madras High Court.
In September 2023, the court had directed government authorities to take action against the compound wall after the MLA and his family submitted ownership documents. Further, in October 2023, the MLA’s family provided a sale deed and town survey land register copies.
However, in March 2024, the additional advocate general, in his legal opinion, stated that the land was government poramboke and had been encroached upon.
The GCC’s confirmation of the land ownership now clears the way for the removal of encroachments and the construction of the road, resolving a prolonged legal battle over the disputed land.
