Land granted for Puchong temple to relocate facilities

Puchong Sri Srinivasa temple has been granted 50 square feet of temporary land for the duration of one year to relocate it’s utility facilities.

The announcement was made after Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) president Adnan Ikhsan visited the temple in Pusat Bandar Puchong this morning.

Adnan said the temple committee has agreed to move its storage room, toilet and water tank from the current location to the reserve land in front of the temple once the structures are erected.

“For the moment, we will defer the demolition first,” said Adnan.

Puchong’s Sri Srinivasa temple came into media limelight after a Hindu devotee torched himself three days ago.

M Chakragunasegaran, 52, set himself on fire over fears that the utility structures, built on a land belongs to neighbouring SJK (T) Castlefield, would be demolished when MPSJ enforcement team arrived at the temple on Monday morning.

The school is reclaiming the land to build a pre-school.

He was rushed to hospital immediately, while MPSJ halted the demolition to meet the temple committee and the school’s parent teacher association to find a solution.

“Grant the land permanently”

The temple committee member welcomed the announcement, however cautious that one-year concession on the land is too short.

“We consider it as a happy resolution to the matter, but it’s even better if they can give us the land permanently,” temple board trustee MS Samy said.

Samy also said  that the Indian community in Puchong has been searching for a place near the temple to be used as a wedding hall.

“We need a place for couples to hold their weddings and for community events,” he said, adding the number of devotees who flock the temple during festivals event would easily surpass 20,000.

He also clarified that no conflict was aroused between the temple committee and the Tamil school management as he said the committee ‘was willing to return the land to the school’.

“We reckon that the land do not belong to us, but our regret is that the local council did not give enough time to relocate the facilities,” he said, adding that MPSJ should have given them another two years for preparations.

He also said the temple committee should have been notified earlier and the whole incident could have been prevented.