Protecting the property of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) with proper fencing is the immediate priority of the board, its president A. Padmakumar has said.
Next on the priority list is the recovery of the board’s land which is under unauthorised occupation in different parts of the State for years.
Mr. Padmakumar told The Hindu that a revenue official on deputation had been verifying the land records as part of the TDB initiative to recover all its landed property in a phased manner.
The government had allotted 63 acres of land to the TDB at Sabarimala. However, since there were no proper boundaries to demarcate them from the forestland, avoidable disputes had cropped up between the board and the Forest department, he said.
Joint survey
The Kerala High Court has ordered a joint survey of land by the Forest department and the TDB at Sabarimala to demarcate the boundary in a time-bound manner. All disputes over the forestland would be settled with the completion of the survey in February 2018, he said.
The TDB chief said he was against excessive construction activity in Sabarimala. All unnecessary constructions at Sabarimala should be demolished to preserve the sanctity of Lord Ayyappa’s grove. The TDB had its own environment wing which would be strengthened to bring forth eco-friendly development in the forest environs.
On Vasthu norms
Mr Padmakumar said extensions of various temples had violated traditional temple architecture rules and norms. Experts attached to the State-run Vasthu Vidya Gurukulam at Aranmula would be asked to conduct a study to correct flaws in temple constructions. Mr. Padmakumar said the TDB would see to it that only pure sandal paste (kalabhom) was used for temple rituals and for distribution as prasadom to devotees.
The Devaswom Vigilance wing had been directed to check alleged pilfering of sandalwood supplied to various temples by the board.
