Temple on waterbody demolished in Mudichur

The structure was reportedly identified as encroachment and was pulled down in 2015

Revenue officials, with the help of the police, on Monday demolished a temple near the Adyar in Varadharajapuram in Mudichur.

The idols of the Narasimha Anjaneyar temple were handed over to the trustees. Devotees had objected to the demolition and had staged protests. There had been video campaigns on social media urging the authorities to drop the move.

Ramanikan, a trustee, said the temple had been there for 12 years and the land had been given to them by representatives of the local body.

However, a source in the Kancheepuram district administration said the temple was pulled down in 2015 but had come up again at the same place.

According to Kancheepuram Collector M. Arathi, the temple had been identified as an encroachment on a waterbody and had been flooded in 2015 and in the recent rain. “They sought time till Hanuman Jayanthi, which was granted,” she said. Encroachments on waterbodies in Varadhrajapuram, Iyyapanthangal, Mangadu, Kolapakkam and Gerugambakkam had been identified by a joint committee comprising officials from the Public Works Department and the Revenue Department, she said.

“We are first removing commercial structures and places of worship. Time is being provided to those who have constructed houses. Some kind of rehabilitation is being planned for those who are poor,” Ms. Arathi added.