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NEW DELHI, INDIA, August 10, 2004: The Swaminarayan sect’s colossal Akshardham temple, coming up on 58 acres of the Yamuna’s bed, could run aground, says this rather hostile article in The Times of India. The article goes on: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department, original custodian of the river bed, and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on a petition saying the Capital’s Akshardham temple is an encroachment on government land. There could be more to come. Monday’s Supreme Court notices (which means that the court will consider the petitions and has not rejected them out of hand) have brought back into focus the blatant disregard for environmental concerns by mega projects. Urban planners and architects have consistently raised their voices against projects like DND flyway, Commonwealth Games village and Metro’s Operation Control Centre as posing a threat to the ecological balance and confining Yamuna to a narrow channel.



So far, it’s been to little avail, but that could change following the SC’s move to take a close look. Drawing a parallel between the temple and the controversial Taj Heritage Corridor, the petitioner, UP State Employees’ Confederation, sought a direction from a Bench of Justices N Santosh Hegde and SB Sinha for removal of this unauthorised construction, a replica of Gandhinagar’s famous Akshardham temple. The petitioner said the land on which the temple was being constructed for over two years belonged to the UP Irrigation Department. It said that any construction on the river bank would interfere with the environment and the river’s flow. According to the petition, the temple’s patron, being politically and socially influential, took unauthorized possession of the land and started construction of the temple without authorization.



Hinduism Today’s Delhi correspondent, Rajiv Malik, adds: The term “issue notice” means the court is acknowledging/or taking cognizance of the matter and then notifying the allegedly erring parties, in this case Swaminarayan and the other government agencies against whom the public interest litigation [PIL] petition has been filed. This is a call these parties to explain their stand on the matter.



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