Plea against wall obstructing natural watercourse in village

Madurai: Madras high court on Wednesday sought a response from Sivaganga district administration officials on a plea against the construction of a compound wall on private land that obstructed the natural watercourse in Kalukerkadai village.A division bench of justice G Jayachandran and justice K K Ramakrishnan was hearing a public interest litigation filed by P Ganapathi Karthick.The petitioner stated that nearly 200 families belonging to the scheduled caste community resided in Kalukerkadai village. An individual owned nearly six acres of land adjacent to the village. Due to the natural topography of the land, rainwater from the village flowed through the land owned by the individual and then drained into a common pond.The petitioner stated that the individual attempted to put up a compound wall around his land. The wall would obstruct the natural watercourse and, during rainy season, it would result in stagnation of water in the residential area, causing severe hardship to the residents. This would result in the flooding of houses and the spread of diseases, posing a threat to the health of the villagers.He claimed that the proposed construction was solely intended to exclude the scheduled caste community, amounting to a practice of neo-untouchability. Permitting such an action would encourage and legitimise discriminatory practices prohibited under Article 17 of the Constitution, which abolishes untouchability in all its forms. Hence, the petitioner moved court