The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Temple authorities remove roofing

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 10, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Temple authorities remove roofing

Special Correspondent

TAMBARAM: Authorities of the Ayyappan Temple, which was built inside the Muthurangam Park in West Tambaram, voluntarily removed the roofing above the place of worship on Monday, following an order of the Madras High Court.

Following a public interest litigation from Tambaram Babu, the High Court directed Tambaram Municipality to remove new structures that had come up near Nageswari Amman Temple inside the park. The petitioner contended that the temples were encroachments on a park, a property of the municipality.

Temple authorities said they had appealed in the Supreme Court which set aside their petition on Monday, following which they volunteered to remove the structures. By Monday evening, they had removed the roofing.

Earlier in the day, workers of Tambaram Municipality came to the spot with an earth-moving equipment to bring down the encroachments.

Police personnel were also present in large numbers.

Senior officials of the Department of Municipal Administration and Water Supply said the original size of the park was 6.44 acres and it had now shrunk to about 4 acres as other government buildings, including an overhead water tank, had occupied the park’s space.

The temples had encroached upon about 4,330 square feet and had damaged the basic nature of the park.

The encroachments began about three decades ago, occupying very little space, but had now expanded. A large number of West Tambaram residents, who came to the park on Monday, blamed government agencies and elected representatives for failing to keep a check on encroachments in the initial stage itself.

Officials recalled they had issued notices to temple authorities more than five years ago.

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