Expressing displeasure over the failure of Land Records and Muzrai Department to stop encroachment of temple land, members of the Karnataka Government Land Protection Committee directed officials to collate details of properties owned by temples under its control within a month.
On July 26, committee chairman K.G. Bopaiah and members A.T. Ramaswamy and Rajashekar B. Patil, along with Karnataka Public Land Corporation Ltd, Managing Director Vasant Kumar, presided over a meeting with officials of various departments from Kalaburagi and Bidar districts.
Assistant Deputy Commissioners, Taluk Panchayat Executive Officers, tahsildars and temple committee members from both the districts were present.
The committee ordered the Assistant Deputy Commissioners, Taluk Panchayat Executive Officers and tahsildars to identify temple properties and initiate legal action against encroachers.
Mr. Bopaiah and Mr. Ramaswamy said that huge tracts of temple land across Karnataka have been encroached, and this was not possible without the connivance of officials.
Mr. Bopaiah accused tahsildars and taluk panchayat executive officers of adopting a lethargic approach and not providing information on temple properties. He directed the taluk level officials to provide property details of temples identified under ‘C’ category while deputy commissioners were told to collect details of temples coming under ‘A’ category.
Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner Yeshwant Gurukar informed the committee that the district has 1,630 temples and 1,962 acres of temple land; three temples each come under ‘A’ and ‘B’ categories while 1,624 temples come under ‘C’ category.
