The city Corporation and the Public Works Department (PWD) on Monday issued stop memo to the Althara Bhagavathy Temple Trust at Vellayambalam against the construction of a concrete extension to the temple, alleging encroachment upon the main road. The construction work on the concrete pillars was stopped following the receipt of the memo.
A PWD official said revenue officials would carry out an assessment before deciding on further action.
“The issue came to our notice on Monday. We issued the stop memo soon after. If we find any encroachments in the assessment, it will be removed,” said the official.
Building permit
According to a city Corporation official, the temple trust had not applied to the local body for building permit to carry out the construction activity.
“Any construction activity can be taken up only after permit is obtained. Besides, the issue with the new construction is the problems it would cause to traffic movement in the area.
“Already, there is hardly any space for a footpath in front of the temple, causing hardship to road users, particularly pedestrians. The new pillars have come up right on the remaining small space. The alignment of the footpath on either side gives a clear indication of the encroachment,” said the official.
The Corporation on Tuesday lodged a complaint with the Museum Police to ensure that no illegal construction activity took place. Mayor V.K. Prashant said a decision on further action would be taken after the officials concerned conducted a site visit on Wednesday.
Temple Trust clarifies
But, the office-bearers of the Althara Bhagavathy Temple Trust maintain that they have carried out construction activity only on the space which is already in their possession.
“Earlier, we had a plastic sheet over this area, for believers to stand under during rain. But this was damaged recently. So, we decided to build a permanent structure in its place. We have not added even one inch of land to what is already existing. No footpath has existed here for the past 40 years. This was just routine action based on a complaint given by some individual. The only error on our part is that we did not apply for a building permit,” said K. Sureshkumar, trust secretary.
