Bhubaneswar: The controversy surrounding the demolition of a samadhi peeth (grave) of the Iskcon Temple took a new turn on Sunday after the temple authorities claimed that they had not encroached on any land, adding that they had even handed over a portion of their property to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for a road project.
The reaction came a day after the state government undertook an eviction drive at the temple on Saturday. High drama ensued when the government's special eviction squad arrived to demolish encroachments made by the Iskcon Temple authorities along the NH-5 as part of its drive to free the area from frequent waterlogging.
"We did not encroach on any land. Rather, we handed over a portion of the temple land to the NHAI for road expansion in 2012 for which we are yet to receive the Rs 43 lakh compensation. The NHAI is yet to pay the money for the land despite a Orissa High Court directive to pay the money with interest," Iskcon, Bhubaneswar, spokesperson Radhakanta Das said at a news conference on Sunday.
The temple authorities also alleged that none of their members pelted the police and the eviction squad with stones. "We had sought time from the government officials, but they demolished some of the structures on the premises in a hurry. A show-cause notice was issued to us only on Tuesday and the authorities pulled down the structures on Saturday," Das said.
"They are trying to defame the temple by calling us squatters," he said.
The development authority's liaison officer Subhranshu Sekhar Mohanty said: "They failed to provide satisfactory reasons for the encroachment."
On Saturday, Iskcon authorities made last-ditch attempts to save the samadhi peeth of their religious guru by performing prayers in front of the bulldozers. Several devotees also started singing kirtan outside the structure that had come up near the storm water drain. The samadhi's location near the drain caused problems for civic officials in conducting periodic cleanings of the storm water channel, resulting in waterlogging on the highway as well as at Nayapalli.
Flash floods are a regular occurrence in the area, mainly in front of the Iskcon Temple, after even a brief spell of rain. The waterlogging, however, became unbearable this time as rainwater reached at least 4ft high, leaving hundreds of people and vehicles stranded.
Initially, the reason for the waterlogging was attributed to the area's drainage system. The construction of the flyover had allegedly worsened the situation. Later, the civic body's drainage division revealed that rampant encroachments over the drain along the highway were the reason behind waterlogging.
The authorities, who got the support of local residents, managed to go ahead with the drive on Saturday. They persuaded the devotees to take away the samadhi before razing the structure.
The disgruntled devotees resorted to pelting the police with stones. The cops retaliated with mild lathicharge to disperse them. Two development authority officials and an onlooker were injured, and one of the four bulldozers that were engaged in the operation got damaged in the stone pelting. The Bhubaneswar Development Authority lodged an FIR against the temple authorities at Nayapalli police station.
"We are trying to identify the troublemakers who pelted us with stones. Action will be initiated against them," said a police officer.
During Saturday's drive, two tin-shed houses, a thatched house around the tomb, a 50ft-long boundary wall of the Iskcon Temple, three cabins, five signboards, a bamboo shed hotel and an iron gate were razed.
NHAI officials, on the other hand, declined to comment on the claims made by the temple on grounds that the matter was still in court. "Eviction of encroachment was necessary to deal with the waterlogging problem. We will continue to remove encroachments beside the national highway," said an NHAI official.
