The people of Vyasarpadi, Chennai have expressed their anguish over the encroachment of the ancient temple pond in Vyasarpadi, converting it into a government parking lot and collecting rent. A news report on this can be found here.
In a comedy scene, actor Vadivelu is seen crying and crying, “Oh my, I see my sorrow… I see my sorrow.” Similarly, the people of Vyasarpadi, Chennai, are also complaining about the “temple pond” in their area and have requested the Vyasarpadi Department to break their silence and resolve their problem.
The oldest Iravishwarar temple is located in the Vyasarpadi area of Chennai, under the control of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department. The pond belonging to this temple has disappeared without a trace and is being used as a temple parking lot, which is the main reason for the problems of the people of the area.
The pond belonging to the Iravishwarar temple, which is spread over an area of about 60,000 square feet on EH Road there, has existed for more than centuries. When the temple land adjacent to the pond was encroached upon and the public built residential houses, the temple administration sent them a notice to remove the encroachments and hand over the temple land. They have also promised to soon clear the pond and make it suitable for public use.
But what happened was something they did not expect at all. When the encroachments on the temple land were demolished, the temple pond was also closed along with it. The temple administration was shocked to see that the place, which was leveled without any sign of the pond, was being built as a parking lot and collecting rent.
The groundwater level had risen significantly as the rainwater that had been falling in the area for many years drained into the pond. But now that the pond is closed, the rainwater has no way to drain and is surrounding the houses, which has brought the people of the area to the peak of dissatisfaction.
The local people have expressed their pain over the temple administration making false allegations against the public who go to seek justice, threatening them by invoking the police, and the ruling party members playing politics over the issue by mentioning the name of the temple.
The local people have urged the Charity Department to take steps to remove the parking lot there, restore the temple pond, and raise the groundwater level as a solution to their problems.
If their demands are heeded and the pond is restored, the local people expect the government to take steps to build a walking path around it and a gym for the youth.
