PONDA
The High Court has ordered the removal of 80 kiosks located near Mangeshi temple and the local panchayat has given a period of seven days for kiosks owners to vacate the area.
To comply with the order of the high court, the Veling-Priol panchayat had passed a resolution at a meeting on April 16 regarding the removal of all kiosks.
The panchayat later issued a notice to kiosk owners on April 20, but only 7 kiosks owners had responded to the notice.
The issue had been taken up by a Mahajan of Mangeshi Devasthanam, who is a native of Karnataka, but residing in Mangeshi since the last year.
Last year, a small child suddenly came in front of the car in the temple area. The accident was averted as the driver applied the brakes quickly.
The Mahajan had filed a petition in the High Court seeking removal of the kiosks near the temple.
A hearing of the petition took place on Tuesday morning and a resolution of the panchayat as well as the notice issued to kiosks owners were submitted to the court.
The removal of the kiosks will be a huge blow to kiosks owners and their families, who have been earning a livelihood for a number of decades.
A large number of kiosks have been functioning near the Mangeshi temple and thousands of devotees as well as tourists visit the temple on a daily basis.
As the High Court has ordered the removal of the kiosks, some kiosks owners have started vacating the place themselves.
A few years ago, the tourism department had set up small shops for locals in the area. But till date, the government has not shifted the kiosk owners to these shops. The Veling-Priol Panchayat, Mangeshi Devasthan Committee and Tourism Department held meetings to find a solution, but in vain.
