NEW DELHI:Even as the Supreme Court on Monday gave the nod for the restoration work of the roof of the sanctum sanctorum of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram,it ordered the cleaning up of the two ponds situated on the temple premises from where the head priest took a dip before offering the prayers.
It was following a plea in this regard from senior counsel Gopal Subramaniam, who is assisting the court as the amicus curiae in the matter, the Bench headed by Chief Justice of India(CJI)J S Khehar issued the order.
According to Subramaniam, the two ponds situated on the temple premises needed urgent attention since they were filled with filth and other dumped objects.
The apex court directed the Kerala Water Authority(KWA) to bear the expenses totalling `28 lakh needed for the clean-up.
“Given the importance of the issue, the Kerala Water Authority(KWA) without tendering must undertake the work on its own to ensure the project is completed by May 15, 2017 before the onset of the monsoon and the report be fortnightly submitted to the amicus curiae about the work done,” the SC said, while posting the next hearing to April 17.