Muzrai dept relents, drops plan to alter Vasanthpura temple tank

Roll-back Decides to retain 350-year-old kalyani in its original form

The Muzrai department has decided to retain the Vasanthpura temple tank (kalyani) in the southern part of Bengaluru off Kanakapura Road in its original form and scrap its skewed development plan.

A DH report on May 31 “Govt building road on heritage temple tank to help developer” highlighted how authorities were destroying the historic tank built 350 years ago by Shahaji Raje Bhonsle, father of Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji.

Following the report, the state government reportedly sought details from the muzrai department after which a decision to scrap the project was taken.

The muzrai department has now decided not only to retain the water-holding area of the temple tank as it existed for centuries, but also plans to improve its surroundings so that the ‘theppotsava’, the annual ritual of taking the temple deity through the temple tank in a coracle, can be performed easily. Muzrai deputy commissioner P S Kantharaju on Wednesday inspected temple tank and directed the architect to come with the distorted development plan to his office.

“It is apparent that the water-holding area of the kalyani has been reduced substantially. I have asked the architect to scrap the park, garden and walkway with benches. We will retain it the way it existed,” Kantharaju said.

“Revenue records show that the tank is spread across one acre and 33 guntas. There appears to be some encroachment. We will survey it and reclaim it,” Kantharaju said.

Muzrai commissioner S P Shadakshari Swamy too confirmed that the temple tank will be developed in accordance with the old survey sketch and not according to the new development plan.

Latest plan
“We never intended to build a road cutting through the tank. The road figured in the latest development plan by mistake,” Swamy said.

Freedom fighter H S Doreswamy and others had recently lodged a complaint at the Subramanyapura police station against alleged attempts to reduce the size of the temple tank and build a road to benefit a realtor having large tracts of land in the southern side of the tank.
DH News Service