Officials mum as 20 feet road vanishes from plan

Chennai:

Residents in Nanmanagalam village near Keelakatalai were denied access to road after the son of a former panchayat president built a compound wall on 20 feet approach road and the commissioner of St Thomas Mount Panchayat Union in Chitalapakkam has failed to initiate any action despite being requested by Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority to do so.

K Balasubramanian, a head constable of directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption, told Express that the commissioner of St Thomas Mount Panchayat Union has yet to act on an unauthorized construction after CMDA has directed to undertake enforcement action against the construction.

Balasubramanian said that he had purchased a 1200 square feet land in Nanmagalam village in Chitalapakam to construct a house. He had applied for planning permission and building permission from commissioner of St Thomas Mount Panchayat Union at Chitalapakam which was granted on April 6 and April 7, 2010 respectively.

He said the planning permission was issued by St Thomas Panchayat Union commissioner based on the 20 feet approach road passing across the vacant site in Nanmangalam village survey number 230.

He said the north-south approach road being maintained by the Nanmangalam panchayat abuts his house at the western side and is the only approach road to three of his neighbours.

He said except this approach road no other public access is available to the house.

Interestingly, the commissioner of the panchayat union issued house site planning permission to one Manikandan, who is the son of the former panchayat president Vijaylakshmi Sampath. And what is surprising is that in the planning permission, the 20 feet approach road based on which the planning permission was given to Balasubramanian was blocked.

Now Balasubramanian and three of his neighbours don’t have access to road . Balasubramanian alleged that the new planning permission was issued overlooking the earlier planning permission issued to him for the approach road with ulterior motive.

Now Manikandan has built a compound wall and blocked the 20 feet approach road available to his site and made his house and others uninhabitable, says the head constable. Now the residents are using a vacant site as passage to venture out. He alleged that the planning permission issued to Manikandan is improper and against the rules and regulations governing permission.

Interestingly, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority has asked the commissioner of St Thomas Panchayat Union on August 28, 2012 to initiate enforcement action against the construction. But Balasubramanian says the commissioner has yet to take any action as Manikandan is the son of the former panchayat president.