24,696 acres lost, says Malabar Devaswom Board; To launch recovery drive

Authorities of Malabar Devaswom Board plan to launch an intensive drive to recover its land that once belonged to the temples. A study showed that temples under MDB have lost a startling 24,696 acres, which had been previously under its possession.

The MDB has sought the allotment of special Kerala land conservation unit, for a detailed survey of land assets, belonging to the 1,335 temples of seven districts under the MDB. The board will also seek a special land tribunal for expediting the cases as well.

“The board plan to adopt a three-pronged strategy that will protect the existing land belonging to temples and to recover lost landholdings. We want to initiate steps to recover the land which has been lost and would take legal recourse with regard to the temple land that is being treated as forest land,” said MDB president K A Chandran.

“We have temples like the Ennoor Bhagawati Temple in Palakkad, which has lost around 1,000 acres of its land,” said board member Ankathil Ajayakumar said.

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