Kodaikanal boat club’s renewal plea binned

DINDIGUL: An order issued by Collector M Vijayalakshmi cancelling a lease-renewal application submitted by Kodaikanal Boat and Rowing Club reached the Kodaikanal municipality office on Monday.

Sources said that the club, established during the British era, was given eight cents of land on a 49-year lease for a yearly rent of Rs 8 a cent in 1921.

The lease was renewed for another 49 years in the 1970s. The lease period expired on August 31 and the club management submitted a renewal application to the revenue department recently.

Kodaikanal Municipal Commissioner R Murugesan objected to this move by the club stating that the municipality, which maintained the Kodaikanal Lake, was not receiving any revenue from the club's use of the lake.

The issue received much attention after it was taken up at the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court. Collector M Vijayalakshmi told TNIE that the renewal application submitted by the club was cancelled to protect the waterbody.