CHENNAI : Construction of 242 strong rooms in temples in the State to preserve temple idols and artifacts will be completed by December 31, 2019, the State government informed the Madras High Court on Monday.When the matter relating to idol theft cases came up on Monday, the counsel for HR&CE told Justice R Mahadevan that considering the remarks made by the judge on the last occasion, the government has decided to carry out the work in a phased manner and expedite and complete it before the end of 2019. Earlier, the department had wanted time till 2021. The judge directed HR & CE to release funds from its reserve.
The judge was told that the TN Police Housing Corporation has been entrusted with the task for Sri Pasupatheeswarar temple in Pandanallur, as a pilot project. It has been asked to submit the estimate with design in consultation with the Agama and Shilpa Sastra experts.