Chennai, Nov 12:
The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department has reclaimed 163.40 acres of encroached temple properties valued at Rs 148.91 crore during the first six months of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) administration, according to an official press release issued on Thursday.
Acting under the guidance of Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay and HR&CE Minister Ramesh, the department surveyed 17,707.10 acres of temple land and installed 13,233 boundary stones to prevent further encroachment. Additionally, officials recovered Rs 213 crore in pending lease and rental arrears from immovable temple assets across the state.
As part of ongoing land-record regularisation, pattas for 34.82 acres were transferred to 15 temples, while revenue divisional officers approved patta corrections for 262 acres belonging to 226 temples. The department is also introducing automated SMS alerts to notify commercial and residential tenants of monthly dues and pending arrears.