Lord Rama temple in Bhadrachalam: Temple authorities allege non-cooperation by AP officials

KHAMMAM: The authorities of the famed Lord Rama temple in Bhadrachalam have come out in the open against the blatant encroachment of temple land in Andhra Pradesh. The officials alleged that the AP officials are not cooperating with them and the involvement of politicians in the issue is making the situation even worse. The temple has 898 acres of land in Purushothapatnam village near Bhadrachalam town. At the time of State bifurcation in 2014, the village was merged into Andhra Pradesh.

It is alleged that 794 acres of the 898 acres belonging to the temple in the village have been encroached upon. The temple administration has been running from pillar to post to stop permanent structures from coming up on the temple land, but failed to yield any result.

Recently, some encroachers constructed houses and commercial complexes like shops and sheds following which the temple officials approached the AP police and Collector and submitted representations. Temple Executive Officer B Sivaji said, “We met district Collector and police officials a few days ago and sought their support and cooperation to stop encroachment of temple land. We also demanded action against the encroachers.

However, police are not keen on taking action against the encroachers or protecting the temple land.” “We have appealed to the Endowment Commissioner and Telangana government to talk to AP government and ensure the issue is settled,” he said.