HR&CE Dept. retrieves nearly 2,000 sq.ft. temple lands in Coimbatore

The lands belong to two temples and are worth around ₹ 2 crore

Officials from the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department on Tuesday retrieved nearly 2,000 sq. ft. of temple lands worth around ₹ 2 crore belonging to two temples in Coimbatore. Sources said two commercial outlets were present on 1,059 sq. ft. of land belonging to Lakshmi Narayana Venugopala Swamy temple on Big Bazaar Street and one outlet on 889 sq. ft. of land belonging to the nearby Pettai Visweswarar temple. All the three outlets defaulted on paying rent worth over ₹ 40 lakh to the two temples, following which the common Executive Officer for the two temples approached HR&CE Joint Commissioner for Coimbatore Zone R. Senthilvelavan. Based on his directions, the officials led by HR&CE Assistant Commissioner R. Vijayalakshmi proceeded to remove the encroachments on Tuesday. Legal action was also initiated against the owners of the three buildings.