Occupancy of Vaitheeswaran temple elephant pond … Court orders Tamil Nadu govt to take action …!

The High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to take legal action if any encroachments are found in the Vaitheeswaran temple elephant pond.

The world famous Vaitheeswaran temple is located in Sirkazhi taluka of Mayiladuthurai district in a petition filed by Sekar of Vaitheeswarankoil in the Chennai High Court.

Around the temple, numerous ponds have been dug to collect water and conserve ground water.

The temple pond, which was cut into 4 acres for bathing elephants, is currently occupied by up to 3 acres. I have repeatedly lodged complaints with the authorities and the Chief Minister’s private unit seeking the removal of these occupants.

But so far no action has been taken. The petitioner therefore sought an order from the Government to remove these occupations.

The case came up for hearing before a bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjeev Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamurthy. The trial judges directed the Tamil Nadu government and the district administration to consider the petitioner’s petition within eight weeks and issue an appropriate order.

The order issued by the judges stated that if the occupants were found, legal action should be taken to remove them.