Stop constructions near temple: BJP

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The BJP in the City Corporation has asked the Mayor and her team to submit review petitions in Supreme Court to stop the unauthorised constructions happening around the Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple, where a  gargantuan wealth has been discovered.  In a press release here, BJP Council parliamentary party leader P Ashok Kumar said that buildings flouting the norms set in place by the Kerala Municipality Act and Kerala Municipal Building Rules have come up in the Heritage zone near the temple. The temple and the nearby area come under the Fort Heritage zone. However, in the Utsavamadom Residents’ Housing Colony and Padmavilasom road, which fall in the heritage zone, the norms have been violated and storeyed buildings have come up, he said.  It is in the guise of maintenance work that the new constructions are going on here and that too without the permission of the Corporation. One of these buildings has more than 24 metres height, which puts the temple security under shadow, Ashok Kumar said. However, the Corporation is of the opinion that it is the Court which meddles with the stay orders issued by the Corporation, leading to such unauthorised constructions, the councillor says in the statement. Ashok Kumar said that the construction activities here must be stopped until the security concerns raised by the temple’s new status get solved.