Encroachments on Madurai-Theni h'way removed

Officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Madurai division carried out an encroachment eviction drive at two places along the Madurai - Theni national highway (NH) on February 19. More than 150 temporary encroachments in front of the shops between Kalavasal Signal and Mudakkusalai were removed with the help of an earth moving vehicle.

Similarly, 10 more temporary encroachments and two temples built opposite Madurai Kamaraj University were also removed during the drive.

Anticipating opposition from the public, the drive was conduced with the assistance of Madurai district revenue officials. A large posse of police personnel was also deployed to prevent any untoward incident. NHAI officials said the eviction drive was carried out without any major trouble apart from some opposition from a few people, who objected to the eviction of a small temple which was under construction.

They opposed the removal saying that a case was pending in the court regarding the temple and it was not legal to demolish it. However, NHAI officials said that they were not aware of any such case and the encroachments were removed based only on court orders.