The controversy surrounding an illegal temple at Tungareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, 30 km north of Borivili, may soon be resolved.
Central committee will submit report to Supreme Court
The controversy surrounding an illegal temple at Tungareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, 30 km north of Borivili, may soon be resolved. A two-member team of Central Empowered Committee (CEC) visited the sanctuary on Friday to inspect the structure.
The committee members, Anmol Kumar and S Patnaik, were accompanied by senior forest department officials and representatives of Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG). Sources in the forest department said the inspection report would now be submitted to the Supreme Court.
During the inspection, the representatives of Sadanandbaba Ashram Trust tried their best to convince the committee members that the land on which the temple was constructed was not part of the sanctuary. However, the records with the forest department contradicted their claims. “The temple is situated in compartment number 1082 of survey number 121. The trustees tried to convince the CEC members to regularise the construction. They even offered alternative land near Shahapur to compensate,” said a forest department official.
“We had submitted the application with CEC four years back. Had they acted in time, the issue could have been resolved earlier,” said Debi Goenka, BEAG member.
Goenka said the trustees have also built concrete roads leading to the ashram.
“According to the records available, only small roads existed inside the sanctuary. But they have not only widened these roads, but also constructed new ones,” he added.
The land was allotted to the ashram on conditions that the flora and fauna in the area would not be disturbed and most importantly, the adjoining land would not be encroached upon. “The trustees have violated both the conditions and even submitted three applications with the state forest ministry for regularisation of the illegal construction,” said Goenka.
Earlier this year, on April 30, the trustees along with followers of Sadanandbaba had assaulted forest department officials when they tried to confiscate four peacocks illegally domesticated in the ashram.
a_ashwin@dnaindia.net
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