State Highways property retrieved in Dindigul, encroaching buildings razed

The officials of the State Highways Department retrieved a land measuring about 7.5 cents on Tiruchi Road in Dindigul on Thursday.

The government had proposed to construct traffic islands on busy stretches and at intersections to prevent accidents and also to decongest vehicular movement in major and Tier II cities.

With burgeoning traffic, the Highways Department, in consultation with police and other officials, has been establishing big roundabouts on the highways and on stretches that witness heavy movement of vehicles.

A month ago, the officials had identified the lands belonging to the Highways Department and found them to have been encroached upon. They served notices to the illegal occupants to vacate, but since there was no response from the encroachers, the officials plunged into action.

Deploying heavy vehicles and under police protection, the highways officials supervised the demolition of the buildings. The officials said a traffic island would come up at the location soon.

The authorities also said they would examine modalities to widen small and narrow roads wherever possible and appealed to the people to cooperate with them in implementing the works quickly.

The officials said the encroachments delayed the public infrastructure development. Despite being served notices, the encroachers argued with the officials and refused to vacate voluntarily. Hence, the authorities had to deploy bulldozers during the eviction operation.

The market value of the property where encroachments were removed on Thursday was around ₹3 crore, and the officials said they had also planned to establish another roundabout on Thadicombu Roam near RM Colony soon.