CHENNAI: The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) Department has constituted a 12-member expert panel led by a retired senior engineer of the Public Works Department (PWD) to go into the fire tragedy that struck the famous Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai on February 2. The panel is mandated to submit its report in four weeks.
“We have constituted a 12-member committee to assess the damage inflicted by fire and come out with suggestions for renovation/restoration,” R Jaya, Commissioner for HR&CE, told Express on Wednesday.
Retired chief engineer (CE) of PWD Balasubramanian is nominated to head the committee, which consists of experts from other departments including P Sathiyamoorthy, retired Superintending Archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Arun Menon, expert in structural engineering belonging to IIT-Madras, and Nanchimuthu, retired executive engineer (Electricals), PWD. Temple chairperson Karumuthu Kannan and a stapathy are also part of the 12-member probe committee.
According to the commissioner, the committee is also mandated to study the stability of the structure, besides assessing the fire damages caused at the East Tower side of the temple.
“The expert committee will hold a holistic exercise. It has been asked to submit its report within four weeks,” Jaya said, adding that the experts would be tasked with supervising the restoration works as well.
The fire that broke out on Friday night damaged several shops and the mandapam at the East Tower side of the temple and led to widespread outrage against negligence. The temple authorities have already been ordered to carry out a study of the entire gamut of structure, electrical network and the fire prevention mechanism.
Taking a cue from the fire tragedy at the Meenakshi Amman Temple, the HR & CE Department has decided to set up an expert panel in each district in Tamil Nadu to study the temple structure and other aspects in all major temples controlled by the department.
The commissioner informed the committee would be headed by an assistant commissioner of the department and would have officials from other government departments.
Notices to 115 shop owners
Administration has issued notices to owners of 115 shops inside Meenakshi Amman Temple premises on Wednesday. The owners were asked to vacate the shops by 11 am on Thursday
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