KARUR: Residents of JJ Garden in Thanthondrimalai, Karur, on Thursday petitioned Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay seeking the withdrawal of notices issued by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department directing them to vacate temple land they have been occupying.
The residents, led by JJ Garden Residents' Association president Dhandapani, also staged a protest and raised slogans against the eviction notices. They warned of a series of agitations if the order was not withdrawn.
According to the residents, 67 families live on the two-acre land belonging to the Thanthondrimalai Kalyana Venkata Ramaswamy Temple. They claimed their families had been residing on the land since 1921 and that the locality is now known as JJ Garden.
Recently, the HR&CE Department issued eviction notices to 27 residents, stating that the land belongs to the temple.
The residents had earlier approached the Karur District Collector seeking withdrawal of the notices and removal of the land from the zero-guideline-value category.
However, alleging that no action had been taken on their representations, they intensified their protest and sent a petition to the Chief Minister by post.
The residents reiterated that they would continue their struggle through a series of protests if their demands were not met.