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Tamil Nadu
Temple in middle of channel demolished
| PWD officials told protesters that the action was inevitable |
STIRRED: Residents of Narayanpuram, Pallikaranai, protest removal of encroachments in their area on Tuesday.
TAMBARAM: Officials of the Water Resources Department , along with those of the Revenue Department of Tambaram taluk, brought down a temple in Narayanpuram, Pallikaranai, on Tuesday as it was built in the middle of a water channel. The structure blocked the flow of rainwater resulting in inundation of residential localities.
According to PWD engineers supervising the eviction, residents and temple authorities who protested were told that its construction was a brazen violation and they had no other option but to remove it. Work on demolishing the temple began on Monday and was completed by Tuesday afternoon.
People living in a few dozen huts near the temple squatted near their homes and protested attempts of the departments to demolish their huts. They sought time to remove their property but relented when they were assured of alternative housing sites in Perungalathur, near Tambaram, for which issue of tokens began. The engineers said that owing to the encroachment, nearly 2,500 houses around the Narayanapuram Lake were affected.
Further, surplus water from this water body was unable to drain freely owing to encroachments on water channels draining stormwater into the Pallikaranai marshland.
Temple authorities said that they were planning to hold the consecration on Tuesday.
About a dozen serious encroachments all over the taluk were identified and they would be evicted in phases, officials said.
Meanwhile, Kancheepuram Collector Santhosh K.Misra has warned that the district administration and the police would initiate stringent action against anyone who damaged lake bunds or caused breaches in water bodies. He also appealed to the people not to step inside lakes and tanks to bathe as it was risky.
Following heavy rain last week, more than 3,000 families were accommodated in nine shelters and special camps in different places in the southern suburbs and food was provided three times a day. So far, nearly 200 families affected by the rain received Rs. 2,000 cash and relief kit, including 10 kg of rice, a litre of kerosene and a sari and a dhoti.
In related developments, the St. Thomas Mount Panchayat Union would be submitting its plea to the State government to provide Rs.6.78 crore as relief.
K. Elumalai, union chairman, said that 90 roads and 224 culverts (minor bridges) in 25 village panchayats were damaged. The worst affected areas were Madipakkam, Okkiyam Thoraipakkam, Pozhivhalur, Sithalapakkam and Kaarapakkam village panchayats. Bunds of Hasthinapuram Lake, Nanmangalam ‘thaangal,’ Jalladampettai ‘vannaan thaangal’ and Veeraraghavan Lake in Tiruneermalai were also damaged.
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