A diminutive roadside structure once, the Nalla Pochamma temple near the bus stop in front of the Koti Women’s College is all set to become much bigger.
Tin sheets covering the broken wall-- broken during the demolition attempt by the GHMC way back in the winter of 2008-- are now gone, and a cement structure supported by wooden frames is rising up.
It may be recalled that the demolition attempt triggered violence and arson by right wing vigilante groups then, and GHMC had to withdraw under pressure.
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“The temple construction could not be taken up for over eight years, because the MLA was against it. Now, it is being funded by a former minister in Nadendla Bhaskar Rao’s government,” informed D.Gyaneshwar, the person supervising the work. A little known fact was that GHMC has frittered away over eight years and High Court directions too by not initiating steps to remove the religious structures on the roads or road margins. The High Court of Andhra Pradesh in 2012 while hearing a public interest petition, issued directions to the GHMC to implement promises it had furnished as part of its sworn affidavit to the court.
As per the details provided by the corporation, the city has a total of 533 temples, mosques and churches encroaching the roads, besides 114 other religious structures including chillas and graveyards. A total of 357 road stretches stood encroached by them.
The then GHMC Commissioner S.P.Singh, who is now the Chief Secretary, submitted an affidavit, stating that individual sketch plans would be prepared for all the religious structures on roads and road margins, and the same would be communicated to the local Traffic Police and Town Planning officials so that a constant vigil can be kept on the same to ensure no further expansion.
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Later, in 2010, one more affidavit was filed by the then GHMC Commissioner Sameer Sharma, giving a road map for removing the structures. According to it, 25 structures were to be removed in Phase-I by March-end the same year, and 86 more in Phase-II by the end of July, 2010. For the remaining, a participatory process and persuasion would be required, and a committee would be constituted for the same, it said. The High Court in 2012, had issued orders to take action accordingly.
However, three years later, an RTI query by the petitioner M.Srinivas on the structures removed begot a reply saying only 26 unauthorised structures had been removed from the road margins.
Meanwhile, road widening work continued at faster pace owing to the Metro Rail project, and more temples on the fringes came bang into the middle of the road, after widening. The temple expanding near the New Nagole junction on National Highway 65 is just a case in point.
“Even the temple in Baghlingampally about which the petition was filed, not only remained, but also expanded,” the petitioner M.Srinivas says.
Recent Sivaratri festival was an occasion when pandals occupied additional space on the roads and caused heavy traffic jams. GHMC officials could not be contacted for their version.