Chennai, Oct 24 : The Puducherry government will constitute an eviction committee to reclaim temple lands under its control that have been encroached upon by individuals and organisations. The Hindu Religious Institutions (HRI), the Puducherry government body, that oversees the affairs of temples, has initiated steps following a directive by the newly appointed Lt. Governor, K. Kailashnathan.

The eviction committee, to be constituted soon, will comprise the Deputy Collector, Commissioner (HRI), Tahsildar, Superintendent of Police, Surveyor, and Police Inspector as members.

The committee will have the power to remove encroachments wherever violations of government temple properties are reported.

Sources in the Puducherry Hindu Religious Institutions (HRI) told IANS that a resurvey of the temple lands will soon commence in the territory to get a clear picture of the encroachments on government temple lands under the HRI.

It may be recalled that there have been growing complaints regarding the usurpation of temple lands in Puducherry. There are around 243 temples under the purview of the HRI in the Union Territory. Since many of the lands under the purview of the HRI have not been notified and published in the state government's official gazette, a resurvey is required, which has been ordered by the UT government.

A senior official of the HRI of the Union Territory of Puducherry said that, as per a report prepared by the government in 2017, approximately 200 acres of temple land are under encroachment in the UT.

The resurvey of all 243 temple lands will be the first step, followed by the government commencing eviction of temple properties that are encroached upon by individuals and organisations, including registered charitable societies and trusts.

The HRI department will also set up an IT wing for better management of the Integrated Temple Management System portal.

Chief Minister of Puducherry N. Rangasamy has directed the HRI department to update the details of movable and immovable properties of the temples under its control in the Integrated Temple Management System portal, as many of these details are still not recorded in the portal.

It should be noted that recently the HRI took possession of a temple property located on Kamatchi Amman Koil Street belonging to Eswara Dharmaraj Temple, which had been encroached upon for the past 30 years. The 16,755.44 sq ft of property, reclaimed following the directive of the Madras High Court, is valued at Rs 3 crore.

The property, registered in the temple's name, was occupied by a former trustee who claimed ownership and rented it out.

The Madras High Court directive came after Independent legislator G. Nehru took up the matter and petitioned the Lieutenant Governor, Chief Minister, HRI commissioner, and other authorities.

On July 30, the HRI commissioner issued eviction orders, but the occupants refused to comply. Nehru then moved the case to the Madras High Court, which, on July 31 ordered that the property be reclaimed within four months. On October 22, the HRI department officials, along with revenue officials and police, evicted the occupants and sealed the property, placing a cautionary notice on the gate.

/IANS