Encroached on 3.42 acres of land worth 100 crores; govt recovers land after 11 years

COIMBATORE: The Tamil Nadu government has recovered 3.42 acres of encroached land worth Rs 100 crore owned by two temples in Coimbatore. The HR&CE department, which is in charge of the management of temples in the state, reclaimed the land owned by Sakthimariamman temple and Plague Mariamman temple at Sowripalayam in Coimbatore.

Minister Sekhar Babu, who is in charge of the HR&CE department, led the recovery of the land. Speaking to the media, the minister said that the government has reclaimed the entire encroached land in the area. Until 2013, a private event management group was in possession of the land. In 2010, they had signed an agreement to use the temple land till 2013. However, they were not ready to return the government land even after the expiry of the contract.

Following this, the government initiated proceedings to reclaim the land from the event management group. However, the event management group was not ready to return the land despite receiving several notices. Finally, the government took the initiative and speeded up the process of reclaiming the land. Minister Sekhar Babu said that a commercial complex will be built for the temples on this land and that the revenue from this complex will be used to solve the financial problems of the temples.