Hyderabad, July 8 The Executive Officer of the Sri Sita Ramachandra Swamy Temple of Bhadrachalam, Telangana, was attacked by villagers in Purushothapatnam village in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday when she had gone there to stop constructions on the encroached temple land.
Executive Officer L. Rama Devi became unconscious when the encroachers assaulted her. She was admitted to a private hospital in Bhadrachalam.
The famous Ram temple at Bhadrachalam in Telangana’s Bhadadri Kothagudem district holds 890 acres in Purushothapatnam, a village transferred to Andhra Pradesh after the state bifurcation in 2014.
Encroachments on the land are continuing despite the Andhra Pradesh High Court having directed that the land should be restored to the temple.
The EO on Tuesday visited the village, which is now part of Etapaka ‘Mandal’ (revenue block) of Alluri Sitharamaraju district of Andhra Pradesh, to inspect the violations and stop constructions, but the encroachers confronted and assaulted her and the temple staff accompanying her. An outsourcing employee of the temple was also taken ill and was he too was admitted to the hospital
Telangana’s Endowment Minister Konda Surekha condemned the attack on the Executive Officer. She said the attack on temple officials would not be tolerated.
The minister warned that the Preventive Detention Act would be invoked against those who have encroached on the temple land. She urged Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to resolve the issue.
The temple lands are located just two kilometres from the temple town of Bhadrachalam on the banks of the Godavari River. The land, worth crores of rupees, has been under the encroachment threat for several decades.
Following the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, only Bhadrachalam town along with the temple remained with the Telangana while all the surrounding 211 villages falling under seven mandals were transferred to Andhra Pradesh through an amendment to the AP Reorganisation Act, on the ground that they are part of the submergence areas of Polavaram major irrigation project being built by Andhra Pradesh across Godavari River.
Purushottapatnam village also became part of Andhra Pradesh, though it is very close to the Bhadrachalam temple.
--IANS
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