Madurai

Several shops surrounding the Teppakulam have been demolished to clear the tank of encroachments on Sunday. “However, the facility is not a part of Smart City Mission,” S Visakan, Commissioner of Madurai Corporation said, when contacted. Assistant Commissioner of the temple, M Ramasamy, said, the Teppakulam would be renovated to witness the ‘float festival’ on a par with Vandiyur Mariamman Teppakulam in Madurai. Earlier, the float festival was held until 1960, but later owing to lack of water, the festival could not be organised. In those days, water was sourced from ‘Kochadai Kalvai’. Further, the Assistant Commissioner said almost 95 shops facing the south side that were already rented have been demolished and works are underway to remove the rest of the shops facing other three directions. The tank was surrounded by a total of 195 shops. The rest of the shops would be evicted in a month’s time, Ramasamy said.