Unauthorised Places Of Worship Will Be Removed Soon
The Coimbatore Corporation plans to remove places of worship on Government lands that inconvenience the public and impede flow of traffic. A resolution on this was passed at the Corporation Council meeting recently. The resolution cited letters from the Secretary, Union Ministry of Home Affairs, the Principal Secretary, Revenue, of the State Government and a Supreme Court direction that called for action against unauthorised construction of places of worship on Government lands. The resolution also said the Assistant Commissioner in the four zones would identify the unauthorised places of worship. The aim was to remove these with the help of the people and without hurting their religious sentiments. While this move would form remedial measures, steps to prevent such constructions would also be taken. The resolution also sought to provide for amendments to various rules in the Corporation, including those governing town planning, so that such constructions could be prevented. It said that the directions from both the Governments and the court emphasised the devising of a preventive mechanism. The directions state that the removal of the structures and also prevention of further constructions must be carried out without fear or favour, the resolution said. The Council passed the resolution without much discussion on this issue.
One of the members said that no one wanted to speak because this was a very sensitive issue. When a councillor wanted to know whether the structures would be provided with an alternative site for re-location, he was told that this was not possible. Meetings on traffic management in the city had touched upon unauthorised places of worship on pavements and roads. Traffic flow got choked on roads where these structures were located. Mayor R. Venkatachalam said after the Council meeting that a survey would be done first and a detailed report on the location of the unauthorised structures would be sent to the Government. “This is a sensitive issue, involving the sentiments of various sections. It has to be handled very carefully,” he said.
