Taking a tough stand against encroachments, the government on Monday announced that the four concrete pillars illegally constructed by the Althara Bhagavathy Temple Trust in front of the temple on the busy Vellayambalam-Vazhuthacaud road will be demolished.
The pillars were constructed by the trust despite the city Corporation and Public Works Department (PWD) issuing stop memo against the construction and intervention of the police, Minister for Public Works, G. Sudhakaran told the Assembly during question hour.
The construction went on under the leadership of the councillor despite the serving of the stop memos and the request of the Mayor to stop the work.
“We will remove it as it an encroachment upon the main road. Don’t issue statements after we demolish the pillars. Temples should not be roads,” Mr. Sudhakaran told the legislators.
The government is adamant that all types of encroachments of PWD roads will be removed and the violators should be booked.
“It is the committee members of the places of worship who encroach into the road in the name of religion and Gods,” he added.
Travel is a fundamental right of the citizen and the government will ensure that all encroachments and dumping of sand, granite and other construction materials on roadside are removed.
The members also sought the intervention of the Minister to remove the seized vehicles in various crime and abkari cases lying in front of police stations.
The Hindu had reported the encroachments by the trust in January and the illegal construction going on despite the serving of stop memos and the Corporation lodging a complaint with the Museum Police to prevent the illegal construction activities.
The trust had indulged in the work without even applying for the mandatory building permit.
Encroachments
The government has also asked the city Corporation to remove all the encroachments on the Killipalam-Attukal Bund road.
Minister for Revenue E. Chandrasekharan in a written reply to O. Rajgopal in the Assembly, said the government had also informed the Corporation that it was ready to provide the survey team to assess the encroachments.
The Minister said the Corporation has also been asked to submit the survey report to the government.
Several encroachments had been reported on the right side of the road from Killipalam to the parking lot of the temple.
The road is designated as emergency road during the Attukal pongala for the safe movement of emergency vehicles.
