Guwahati, July 10: The managing committee of a 65-year-old Kali temple in Maligaon here has demanded that the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) allow renovation of the temple to resume.

The NFR has barred the committee from continuing with the renovation, claiming that the land where the structure stands has been encroached upon.

The committee has submitted memoranda stating its demands to minister of state for railways Rajen Gohain and Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

It claims that the old temple structure is in a bad shape which is why renovation is being done at the exact site and hence the question of encroachment does not arise.

The temple was set up in 1951.

"The original building of Maligaon Kalibari (Kali temple) decayed with the passage of time which is why we have to renovate it. While the place of the main deity has remained the same, renovation began at the exact location of the old structure about two months back. But now the NFR has been continuously sending us notices, claiming the renovation is illegal and that the land on which the temple stands has been encroached upon. How can the land be encroached when the temple is being renovated within the boundary wall of the temple premises?" asked Amitabha Choudhury, secretary of the Maligaon Kalibari managing committee.

"We have a proper boundary wall for the temple and the NFR is aware of it. The renovated structure is coming up at the exact spot where the old structure stood. For so many decades the NFR has been providing water and electricity. Had the temple been illegally constructed, it would not have provided these amenities all these years. Then why, all of a sudden, is the NFR threatening to demolish it?" asked S.K. Das, a local resident and member of the managing committee.

"We cannot simply shift the deity to another place when we have been worshipping the goddess at this place for more than six decades now. We have submitted memoranda to Rajen Gohain, Himanta Biswa Sarma and they said they would take up the matter with the general manager of the NFR. We will also be approaching BJP MP Bijoya Chakravarty. We want the NFR to allow resumption of renovation of this old temple," Choudhury said.