THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: New office-bearers of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) have called for an action taken report from its revenue department on the reclamation of devaswom land occupied by encroachers.The report, expected in early March, will help the board to launch a time-bound plan to regain its properties, according to TDB president A Padmakumar.
The devaswom revenue department, comprising officers on deputation from the state revenue department, is headed by a special tahsildar. It is learnt that the new board sought an interim report after it found inordinate delay in the proceedings.According to a report prepared during the previous board’s tenure, 3,000 acres of TDB land were under the possession of encroachers. Of the total 5,000 acres of land owned by the 1,250 TDB temples, only 2,000 acres were in actual possession. Of the 3,000 acres, the board faced disputes with regard to 550 acres. Padmakumar said he has asked the devaswom revenue department to expedite steps for reclamation and submit interim reports every three months.
“The department has been asked to work in association with local revenue officials. All temple properties should be measured and notices be given to those who are found to have encroached upon temple land,” he told Express.According to Padmakumar, the TDB had lost properties at prime locations owing to the apathy of local officers.
“It is not just individuals who have encroached upon devaswom land. At Koothattukulam town, the municipality built a three-storey building encroaching upon the land of TDB’s Lord Ayyappa temple. Though the temple owns one acre in the heart of the town, actual possession is just 18 cents,” he said.
Padmakumar said the joint survey of the TDB and the forest department at Sabarimala will put an end to a long-pending dispute over TDB land there.