"TN govt retrieved about 40000 ha temple land from encroachers in last 5 yrs"

The Tamil Nadu government hasretrieved about 40,000 hectares of temple land fromencroachers in the last five years and the drive against themwould continue, Hindu Religious & Charitable EndowmentsMinister Sevoor S Ramachandran said here on Monday.

He said the drive was expedited following theintervention of Chief Minister K Palaniswami, who had ordereda survey of temple lands across the state.

''The department officials evicted the encroachers and putthe land to proper use.

Members of the public who come across genuine cases ofencroachments into temple lands can inform the HR & CEofficials for appropriate action,'' the minister said whileinaugurating a new building for the office of JointCommissioner of HR & CE here.

Also, the officials took stock of the lands that did notfetch fair rent, he said.

Forest minister Dindigul C Srinivasan said that not onlytemple lands, even encroached forest lands were retrieved.

Temple properties worth over Rs 100 crore were recoveredin Salem by the HR and CE authorities after Hindu Munnani andThiru Thondar Peravai (Saiva Devotees Forum) took up theissue.

In December 2020, the department recovered temple landswhose collective market value is said to be over Rs 67 crore,in Chennai.