Road to private property built on lakes near Vandalur under Namakku Naame scheme

CHENNAI: While hundreds of vital village roads remain neglected as muddy, pothole-ridden tracks, a 30-foot-wide bituminous road has been laid along the ecologically sensitive shorelines of the Periya Eri and Chitteri lakes in Unamancheri village near Vandalur in Chengalpattu district. The road built on land officially classified both as a water body and reserve forest provides access to a film producers 300-acre property, allegedly proposed to be developed into a film city. The legitimacy of the road-cum-bridge has been a subject of controversy for the past five years, with all the government departments so far pleading ignorance and claiming it as a private initiative encroaching on the waterbody. However, following a series of protests by the local residents, officials from the water resource department have confirmed that the road was approved by the Kancheepuram District Collectorate in 2019. The village was then brought under Chengalpattu district after bifurcation in September 2019. The project, which began in 2021, was later brought under the Namakku Naame public-contribution scheme. However, villagers contested this claim stating that they never contributed the mandatory 50% share required under the scheme. Approval for the road and bridge was granted by the Kancheepuram collector in 2019-20. It was one of the long-pending demands. We will need to verify whether the road width encroaches upon the waterbody, a WRD official said. He further clarified that the work was not private, but executed by the Kattankulathur Block Development Office under the Namakku Naame scheme. However, no official could provide basic details such as the project cost, executing agency, or supporting documents. Local residents allege that the road leads directly to a 300-acre land parcel where a film city is being planned. The original path classified as vandi pathai (a waterbody access route) and only three to five feet wide was illegally widened into a 30-foot road, encroaching deep into the water body. A 750-metre stretch, including a bridge, has been constructed, they claimed. During TNIEs visit, the newly-laid bituminous road branching off from Erikarai Street near a temple in Unamancheri, runs through the shoreline of the two lakes and ends at an empty tract of land with no houses. Official records confirm that the area falls under waterbody and reserve forest categories. The village of Unamancheri is accessed by turning off the Vandalur-Kelambakkam state highway onto the Urapakkam-Keerapakkam road, and then onto a village road. From there, the newly laid road begins near a temple on Erikarai Moola Street, cutting across the landscape and ending at an empty land, where a small pathway continues to Arungal and Nallambakkam villages. Residents recalled that heavy vehicles began to pass through the narrow 10-15-foot-wide village roads after a large movie set featuring a train accident scene for Viduthalai 2 was erected a few years ago. For years, officials from the Kattankulathur BDO, revenue department, Chengalpattu collectorate, Tangedco, and WRD, as well as the custodian of Periya Eri and Chitteri lakes, have claimed ignorance of the project. The entire administration knew this land was objectionable, a resident said. An environmental activist pointed out that many lakes and ponds around Rajiv Gandhi Salai have been destroyed, contributing to severe flooding. Periya Eri, spread across 1,000 acres, and Chitteri, over 330 acres, receive water from the surrounding hills and carry surplus runoff. Damaging the bund reduces the lakes spread and obstructs natural water flow, the activist said.