Govt to hold talks with Travancore Devaswom Board for land

Hyderabad: The Endowments Minister A Indrakaran Reddy on Monday said that the State government would hold talks with the Travancore Devaswom Board of Kerala to take possession of a land parcel at Nilakal in Pathanamthitta district for the construction of a guest house for Ayyappa devotees arriving here from the Telangana State.

Replying to a short notice question raised by K Vidyasagar Rao during the Question Hour in the Assembly, Indrakaran Reddy said that the Travancore Devaswom Board had agreed to allot 5 acre at Nilakkal in Perunadu village, Ranni Taluq, Pathanamthitta district in Kerala.

Reddy said the development was possible only because of the efforts made by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao to reach out to the Kerala government. This was in lieu of an equal extent of land at Bhadrachalam for devotees from Kerala, he explained.

Earlier, members B Shankar Naik and others highlighted the plight of Ayyappa devotees from the State every year during their visit to Sabarimala. They stressed on the urgent need to construct the proposed Telangana Bhavan for pilgrims from the State to stay during their visit.

They also urged the government to ensure that besides constructing a dormitory and guest rooms, steps should be taken to provide food and post Telugu-speaking officials and police personnel there.