469 buildings ‘violated height norm’ near temple | The Times of India

MADURAI: The Madurai Corporation on Wednesday told the Madras high court Madurai bench that it earmarked 469 buildings that were erected violating the government order dated January 30, 1997 prohibiting construction of buildings above nine metres in height within radius of one km from the compound wall of the Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple.

The corporation counsel also said that it on March 3 issued notices asking them to produce building approval in a week. It further said that it would not stop with issuance of notice and would proceed further.

Then, the division bench of justices N Kirubakaran and R Tharani which heard the cases, directed the corporation to inform the court about further developments over the issue on March 14.

When the case came up for hearing, the petitioner’s counsel said that the court gave many directions regarding safety of the temple, of which except banning cell phones inside the temple, the Hindu religious and charitable endowment (HR&CE) department did do nothing. It did not take steps to purchase advance fire safety equipment. The counsel also pointed out the issue of building violations near the temple. When the court asked the special government pleader (SGP) about steps taken by the temple authorities, he submitted a status report. The SGP said that the fire and rescue services department gave a report on fire safety and fire audit and said that the advance safety equipment would cost between Rs 20 lakh to Rs 30 lakh.