Most Bhadradri temple lands encroached

No move to protect the assets A

Mateti Venu Gopal

Khammam : Major part of lands belonging to Sri Sitaramachandra Swamy temple at Bhadrachalam of Khammam district are encroached by people at various places in the district and other places in the state. As a consequence the temple authorities are not in a position to get adequate income from the lands.

According to sources, there are about 1,000 acres of lands donated by devotees at different places for the past several decades and the present cost of the lands would vary from Rs 800 cr to Rs 1,000 cr. However, the temple is not in a position to get adequate income for its daily maintenance and for providing amenities to the devotees especially during festive occasions.

The officials are not keen to recover the lands or to collect tenant fee from the persons controlling the lands. Thousands of devotees are expected to visit the temple during Godavari Pushkarams in 2015. If the authorities could recover the encroached lands or get adequate income from the lands, then they can make facilities for the devotees, locals opine. The persons who are in possession of some of the temple lands are not paying the taxes (tenant fee) to the temple regularly.

The temple has 917 acres at Purushothapatnam in Bhadrachalam mandal; but major part of these lands is encroached. Some locals claim ownership on these lands and approached courts. The temple has 17 acres at Pinapali also in Bhadrachalam mandal. But the tenant farmers are not paying the annual tenant fee.

Similarly, the Sri Rama temple has 17 acres at Sitanagaram in Burgampahad mandal in the district, 20 acres at Lakshminarasimhapuram, 4 acres at Mulakapalli, 6.25 acres at Nellipaka in Aswapuram mandal and some small pieces of land in surrounding districts.

The devotees urge the temple and district officials to take steps for the recovery of tenant fee from tenant farmers of the lands so that the temple would get considerable annual income. The officials should also initiate action for recovery of the temple lands, people say.