Minister vows to retrieve encroached temple land in Chennai

CHENNAI: Hindu religious and charitable endowments (HR and CE) minister P K Sekar Babu on Monday said steps would be taken to retrieve an encroached parcel of land on the Poonamallee High Road in Chennai that belongs to the Ekambareswarar temple, Kancheepuram.
While 45 grounds belonging to the temple were already retrieved, the remaining 95 grounds are still under encroachment. The combined market value of the 95 grounds property is at Rs 475 crore.
On Monday, 1970 square feet of commercial space that was operating on the (Ekambareswarar temple) temple's property was retrieved and razed down.
According to a press release, the minister told reporters that the department had already retrieved about Rs 600 crores worth of temple property that were encroached (across the state). It would increase to Rs 1,000 crore soon, he added.
Appealing to encroachers to voluntarily return the encroached temple land, he said that action was being initiated on complaints regarding encroached temple land.
HR and CE commissioner J Kumaragurubaran and joint commissioner of Kancheepuram region Jayaraman were also present on the occasion.