DEHRADUN: Hundreds of shops and buildings belonging to the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) along the Kedarnath and Badrinath routes are currently occupied by tenants paying nominal rents ranging from just ₹10 to ₹50 per month.
Investigations have revealed that even this nominal rent has not been paid for the past few years. Furthermore, the leases for these properties have expired, yet the occupants refuse to vacate the premises. The properties include a dilapidated building standing on 11,020 square feet of temple land in Lucknow.
BKTC Chief Executive Officer Sohan Singh Rangra admitted that the temple committee merely served notices to these illegal occupants and failed to take follow-up action. While the committee issued notices to 185 individuals and maintained years of correspondence with local district administrations, no concrete action was taken. No boundary demarcations were conducted, nor were any serious efforts made to clear the encroachments.
Rangra stated that extensive efforts could not be made during the ongoing Char Dham Yatra season but assured that strict action will now be taken in all cases related to illegal encroachments. A drive will soon be launched to free these lands from illegal possession.
According to the CEO, irregularities are not limited to temple donations and offerings; temple lands spread across the country have also been mismanaged and misappropriated for the past 10 years. Prime properties worth billions of rupees have been encroached upon across Dehradun, Haldwani, Ramnagar, Lucknow, and as far as Maharashtra.
Most of these multi-billion rupee properties are located in prime areas. In Dehradun, illegal encroachments have taken place on lands in Kargi, Dovalwala, and Canal Road. In Ramnagar, 42 bighas of land are being mismanaged.
Illegal constructions and encroachments on shops, assets, and lands have also been reported in Chamoli, Pandukeshwar, and Bamni village. Additionally, the temple committee has been unable to utilize its lands in Haldwani.
The mismanagement extends well outside the state, including a dispute over 17 acres of temple land in Muradnagar. In total, disputes involving 3,66,312 square meters of temple land across the country remain to be resolved.
