By S A Ishaqui
Hyderabad, April 11: The AP High Court on Friday gave a green signal to the government to acquire temple lands to construct irrigation projects and water tanks. A division bench comprising Chief Justice A.R. Dave and Justice Gopal Krishna Tamada modified its earlier interim orders and permitted the government to acquire endowments lands in accordance with the Land Acquisition Act.
While disposing of 12 miscellaneous petitions filed by the government to vacate a stay on acquisition of temple land, the bench directed that the government should pay compensation to temples.
The order enables the government to acquire 1,724 acres belonging to about 140 temples. The bench felt that nothing was wrong if the government was allowed to acquire land for irrigation purposes.
The construction of irrigation projects including Thotapalli barrage, Pulichintala,Polavaram, Handri-Neeva, Vamsadhara, Kandaleru reservoir, JawaharNettampadu, Koilsagar,Mahatma Gandhi lift irrigation schemes, and summer storage tanks in EastGodavari and Prakasam districts have been stalled as the court granted interim stay on a writ petition challenging the land acquisition.
The bench felt that nothing wrong if the government is allowed to acquire lands specifically for irrigation purpose in the larger public interest.
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