The Hindu 03.11.2010
Meeting held on removal of illegal places of worship
Special Correspondent
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District administration identifies 210 illegally built temples and |
— PHOTO: M.A. SRIRAM
A chance to defend:Deputy Commissioner Harsh Gupta, Commissioner of
Police Sunil Agarwal and Mysore City Corporation Commissioner K.S.
Raykar met with the trustees of various places of worship who have been
issued notices to relocate or face demolition, in Mysore on Tuesday.
MYSORE: The district administration set the ball rolling for clearing
illegal places of worship from public places here on Tuesday.
Deputy Commissioner Harsh Gupta, Commissioner of Police Sunil Agarwal
and Mysore City Corporation (MCC) Commissioner K.S. Raykar held a
meeting with trustees of temples and other places of worship, which have
been categorised as illegal for violation of various Acts, including
encroachment of public space.
The meeting was attended by trustees of more than 30 temples in zonee
1 and 2 coming under the MCC limits. The Deputy Commissioner drew
attention to the Supreme Court directive as per which all illegal places
of worship across the country had to be removed by December 31, 2010
and urged the stakeholders to cooperate.
Mr. Raykar said the MCC conducted a survey and had identified 210
places of worship — including temples and dargahs — found to be
constructed in violation of the law.
Notices had to be issued to illegal places of worship as on December
7, 2009 to facilitate stakeholders to voluntarily relocate or demolish
while the administration would act without any notice on such places
which have cropped up after the cut-off date. Out of the 210 places of
worship, there were 56 temples around ‘aralikatte’ or structures
constructed around pipal and banyan trees.
Mr. Raykar said the MCC would take the stakeholders into confidence
before acting and urged them to submit any document in support of their
claims to preserve the structure.
However, he made it clear that there was no scope for sparing illegal structures.
The stakeholders including the trustees spoke in defence of their respective temples.