Church tower faces destruction

One of the twin towers of the 115-year-old St. Lourde’s Church in Mettur Dam is in the verge of destruction.

Before the construction of the dam, 27 villages including Samapalli, Nayambadi, Samrajpettai, and Kaverikarai were located in Pannavadi.

The villages had a 300-year-old Nandi statue of Sri Jala Kandeshwarar Temple built by Mysore kings, and the church built by Fr. Antony in 1902.

The church was in use from 1902 to 1925.

When the British decided to construct the Stanley Reservoir, villagers were re-located and their houses demolished. The temple and church were not demolished.

Construction of the dam began in 1925 and was completed in 1934. Soon the statue, the church and its 30-ft-high twin towers got submerged.

When the water level drops below 71 ft in the reservoir, the top portion of the tower and the statue would be visible.

Sedimentation led to the church completely getting covered in silt. The towers were visible in 2003 and 2013 and this year.

In April 2015, one of the towers was damaged.

Members of the Salem Historical Society submitted a petition to the district administration seeking action against miscreants under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2010 for damaging the monument. They wanted the other tower, and the statue fenced.

General secretary of the society J. Barnabas said that the towers stand as a testimony to the people who lived in the area before a century. Instead of allowing it to get destroyed, immediate action should be taken to protect it, he added.