Encroachments around Arunachaleshwara temple in Tiruvannamalai demolished to facilitate drain work

Encroachments, mostly houses and petty shops, were demolished around Arunachaleshwara temple in Tiruvannamalai town on Friday.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Encroachments, mostly houses and petty shops, were demolished around Arunachaleshwara temple in Tiruvannamalai town, to facilitate construction of storm water drain on key stretches around the temple on Friday.

The massive exercise was being taken up with the help of officials of State Highways, the executing agency, along with officials of Tiruvannamalai Corporation and revenue department besides the local police personnel. Most of the encroachments, around 160 structures, on these stretches had been built over two decades ago.

The razed structures are mostly extensions of houses and commercial establishments that have been built on the existing narrow drain on these stretches. “Illegal construction on these stretches, especially around the temple, has affected traffic movement, especially ambulances. The demolition exercise is also part of efforts to create more road space for visitors during Chitra Pournami festival, to be held on May 11 and 12. The drive will continue for the next few days,” S. Anbarasu, Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE), State Highways (Tiruvannamalai), told The Hindu.

Officials said that the demolition drive was also meant to restore the original width of the existing stretches around the temple as most of the encroachments were built on it. The encroachments, mostly concrete structures, blocked free flow of excess rainwater on old narrow drains during monsoon. It has resulted in waterlogging in the town.

Officials of the State Highways said that construction of new wide storm water drains on both sides of key stretches is part of the Rs 15-crore concrete road works on these routes. Some of the stretches include Kattabomman Street, Draupathi Amman Street, Ramalingam Road and Rajagopuram Road. Each drain is three feet wide and four feet deep.

The new drain is being laid after revenue officials marked the extension of encroached space on these stretches that have to be demolished for drain work. Of total 800 metres of encroached space, demolition have been completed to a distance of around 250 metres on these stretches so far.   

Formed part of the 14-km-long girivalam path, the stretches around the temple, a distance of 1.7 kms, gets around 20,000 footfalls every day. The stretches connect the temple with the rest of the town. During Karthigai Deepam festival, the temple car is pulled on these stretches as part of the celebrations. The work is being done under the Chief Minister Road Development Project (CMRDP) 2024-25.

As part of ensuring safety of pilgrims during car pulling events as part of Karthigai Deepam festival, all overhead cables including Tangedco power lines and internet are being replaced with underground cables as part of the new drain work. Around 120 electrical poles on these stretches have been removed. Also, new water pipelines are also being done on both sides of the stretches to prevent road cutting works for household water connections.