Chennai: Endowments Religion and Hindu Amal (HR & CE) Minister P K Sekar Babu, on Saturday said the department would take renovation and recovery of temples, Temple Tanks and Nandavanam (Temple Park) at the cost of this fiscal year 100 crore.
Of this amount, Rs 15 Crore will be allocated to renovate and rejuvenate 25 Temple tanks to increase rainwater storage and rejuvenate the surface of the ground around it.
The department will also make a tank at RS 2 Crore at Kuilyanatha Temple in Madhavaram.
It was one of the announcements of the department in the Tamil Nadu session which was recently concluded, said Minister after examining the temple along with the constituency of MLA S Sudharsanam and the Department of Commissioner J Kumaraguraran.
“The land test has been completed at the location.
We will immediately call for tenders.
The work will begin in January,” Minister said.
Temple property takes a maximum of RS 92,000 income in the last three years.
Therefore, the authorities have been instructed to increase the temple’s property revenue, he added.
In antiques stolen from temples in the state, the minister said the government had a two-branch approach in dealing with this problem.
Chief Minister M K Stalin has led a meeting with Wing Idol to track and restore stolen idols to their respective temples, he said.
The department has taken strong room construction in more than 3,000 temples at a cost of Rs 308 Crore for the safe maintenance of idols and ending the looting of idols in the future, he added.