India: Of 207 illegal religious structures, 12 illegal temples demolished in Cuttack city

The Times of India

Temple demolitions picks up in Cuttack
PTI | May 20, 2013, 09.19 PM IST
CUTTACK: After two-days of break, the district administration on Monday demolished 12 illegal temples in Cuttack city.

All these religious structures had come up illegally on government land and the district administration is demolishing them following orders from Orissa high court.

The drive, launched from May 1, had identified at least 207 such structures. The administration has pulled down as many as 20 illegal structures till date with plans to demolish others before monsoon, sources said.

After a two-day break on account of Saturday and Sunday, bulldozers and vibrators accompanied, with some 20 platoons of police and other officials arrived at Ganesh Ghat located on the left embankment of Kathajodi river to demolish temples amidst wailing of devotees.

However, constructions in Jalaram Ashram and Rajak Samiti as well Hanuman and Tareswari and Trinath temples were spared as they had the requisite documents to show that those were legal. After Ganesh Ghat, the eviction party then moved to Purighat area where the local Hanuman temple, Sarala temple, Tarini temple, Bhootnath temple, Gorakhnath temple, Jaleswar temple and Sanni temple were demolished smoothly as people here did not oppose the High Court direction.

Meanwhile, a newly-formed organization called, Dharmanusthan Surakshya Committee, has decided to move the Supreme Court against the demolition.