KURNOOL: Tension prevailed in Srisailam temple town on Sunday as owners protested against the demolition of their shops for the widening of roads as part of the Srisailam temple complex. After the allocation of shops at the Lalithambika shopping complex, constructed at a cost of nearly Rs 20 crore in the temple, the authorities sent notices to owners of unauthorised shops asking them to shift their businesses to the allocated shops in the newly constructed complex.
Though the eviction dates were extended for at least three times, no shop owner vacated the space, following which the shops were demolished. However, the shop owners gathered and protested on the spot demanding a three-month extension.
They staged a sit-in dharna in front of the temple and raised slogans against the temple officials. Later, police foiled the protest amid the face-off between the agitators and temple authorities. Meanwhile, the temple authorities said that the shop owners agreed to shift their businesses to new shops.
Remember, there were nearly 300 shops unauthorised shops that were being run for the past 3 decades on both sides of the main road from the temple gate to Nandi circle, which created trouble to perform Rathotsavam and other rituals.