The First Bench of Madras High Court had, on Saturday, directed the state government to reply within four weeks on the numerous encroachment activities carried out in the Noyyal River Basin right under the nose of the Coimbatore District Administration.

With clearing encroachments on water bodies being given major importance in the Coimbatore City Corporation’s Smart City Proposal plan, the direction of the High Court has come as a rap on the head for the administration as the court had accepted the P.I.L which said that the encroachments were instigated by the policies of the government authorities.

The Coimbatore Consumer Cause had filed a Public Interest Litigation in the High Court seeking immediate and appropriate actions to remove all encroachments made along the lakes forming the Noyyal River Basin in Coimbatore District.

In the P.I.L, the association said that the Noyyal, which is the major source of water for Coimbatore, Tirupur, and Erode districts, has been largely encroached by both private and government parties.

The association had also alleged that most of the lakes have been encroached in the form of constructions, which was made easier with the No Objection Certificate issued by the Public Works Department.

“The NOC has made it easy for private and government authorities to slowly encroach the lakes with a part of the lake covered with earth,” the association argued.

Quoting a report available at the domain of the ENVIS Centre on Wetland Ecosystems including Inland Wet Lands hosted by the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), sponsored by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, the association said that the report pointed out the various encroachments made by the corporation.

Based on the PIL, the High Court has asked the administrations to clear the encroachments of all sorts in the lakes forming the Noyyal Basin and also had directed the administration to reply within four weeks.

The court had posted the case for next hearing on June 9, 2016.