THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It was a small step (constructed) by the authorities; but it gave a big jolt to the public. The flight of steps constructed by the Sree Bhagavathy Temple, Vellanad, in order to preserve the sanctity of the temple, has blocked the traffic through a public road nearby. This move has irked the local residents who have been using the road on the ‘puramboku’ land for daily commutation for decades.The road leads to important locations in the region, including the Government Vocational Higher Secondary School, Community Health Centre, Panchayat Anganvadi and Panchayat Dairy Farmers’ Cooperative. Hence, it was being commonly used by both the local residents and the people coming from other parts of the district. A group of local residents has formed an action council in protest against the action of the temple authorities. They have also kick-started a legal battle against the temple trust by filing complaints with Nedumangad Taluk Legal Service Committee and also Human Rights Commission. Sunil Kumar, the convener of the action council and also a local resident, told ‘City Express’ that the temple authorities have built the steps without the consent of the residents. ‘’The temple trust authorities have given bizarre reasons for constructing the steps across the road, such as in a ‘Devaprasnam’, it was revealed that dead bodies were being carried along the road that have destroyed the sanctity of the temple,’’ says Sunil Kumar. But all the residents of the area surrounding the temple are Hindus and they have been taking care not to take even small objects that would harm the holiness of the temple. Also, ambulances seldom took this route, he added. The steps were constructed overnight about three months ago when the annual festival of the temple was going on. The people had not protested then for the sake of the smooth conduct of the festival. But the steps stayed on even after the festival was over despite repeated pleas from the people. Now, these steps are causing several accidents as people, unaware of the steps, still take this route, said a woman who lived nearby and did not her name to be revealed. ‘’Now, the situation is that people have to take a long route to reach the Community Health Centre even in an emergency,’’ she said. Janardhanan Nair, president of the Sree Bhagavathy Temple Trust, Vellanad, told ‘City Express’ that they have only blocked the vehicular traffic through the road taking into account of the safety of the devotees who visited the temple. ‘’It was a long-pending need of the people to restrict the entry of vehicles to the road so that they do not pose danger to the students of the Government VHSS nearby,’’ he said. However, he also admitted that they have indeed found that the sanctity of the temple was harmed as unholy objects such as dead bodies were being carried along the road in vehicles.
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