The government move to set up a pilgrim heritage circuit at the Kulangara Sri Krishna Temple property at Kazhakkoottom has hit a roadblock with the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) taking exception to certain key clauses prescribed by the Tourism Department.
The Tourism Department has proposed setting up of a heritage tourism amenity centre at the 1.5-acre TDB land attached to the Kulangara Sri Krishna Temple. As per the proposal, the District Tourism Promotion Council will be executing the project at an estimated cost of ₹495 lakh.
The Government Order (GO(Rt)No.134/2017/TSM of March 16, 2017) says that a ``working group meeting held on February 27 has approved the Tourism Department’s proposal subject to the conditions that: 1) Public access to all should be ensured, 2) Operation and Maintenance on cost revenue sharing between DTPC and TDB should be ensured, and 3) The heritage circuit shall be a visitors facilitation.’’
Minister for Tourism and Devaswom Kadakampally Surendran had laid the foundation stone for the project at an official function held at Kazhakkoottom on June 14. However, the absence of TDB authorities at the function brought to the fore the differences between the Tourism Department and TDB over the project.
TDB president Prayar Gopalakrishnan told The Hindu that the stone-laying function was held without informing the board. Even then, Devaswom chief engineer G. Muralikrishnan attended the function, he said.
Mr. Gopalakrishnan said the TDB, in response to a letter from the DTPC, had issued an order stating that the board had decided to hand over its land to the Tourism Department only for constructing a pilgrim amenity centre near the Kulangara temple, keeping its ownership intact with the temple authority.
The TDB chief said the TDB clearance was only for setting up the proposed pilgrim amenity project at the temple property and the board would operate it, once the work was completed.
Mr. Gopalakrishnan said not less than 1,700 acres of Devaswom property attached to 700 temples had been under illegal occupation across the State. He said the government should set up a Devaswom tribunal without any further delay to recover all the Devaswom land in a time-bound manner.
He said not less than 100 acres of land belonging to the Erumely temple Devaswom was with the Believers Church.
According to him, the board has recently recovered 18 acres at Devikulam. The DTPC Sathram at Thiruvalla is situated in Devaswom land. The High Court had stayed the DTPC move to construct a tourism centre at the Sathram premises, earlier, in 2001, he said.
Mr. Gopalakrishnan said the TDB was bound to protect all temple properties, besides a time-bound recovery of all its lost landed property.
BJP State unit president Kummanam Rajasekharan alleged that the proposed heritage tourism project at Kazhakkoottom was part of a covert move of the State government to usurp the temple property.
Mr. Rajasekharan said the clauses prescribed by the Tourism Department for implementing the project itself exposed the hidden agenda of the government.
Mr. Rajasekharan also accused Mr. Surendran of trying to divert the temple properties for non-religious purposes under the cover of pilgrim tourism.
