By PRIYA MENON
priya@thestar.com.my Photo by P.NATHAN | Jan 31, 2012
By-pass stretch to temples riddled with potholes
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In a bad state: The uneven road that leads to the temples is not safe for vehicles or pedestrians.
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A developer has closed a road off Jalan Cheras in Kuala Lumpur which is used by devotees to go to two temples and the by-pass stretch they are using now is riddled with potholes and too narrow for two cars to pass through.
The devotees are now afraid to walk down the road to get to the Sri Muniswaran Amman Alayam and Sri Muniswaran temples.
The bypass road off the fourth mile Jalan Cheras near City Hall’s Health Department building is filled with potholes and is too narrow.
The developer, who is building apartments for City Hall staff, has closed off the road citing orders from the local authority.
Upon checking, temple committee members found that City Hall officers were unaware of such a circular.
According to them, the new route is located near a demolished squatter site and lacks streetlights.
Sri Muniswaran Amman Alayam temple secretary Kumar Veeran, 41, said cars had been damaged using the pothole-ridden stretch and it was not safe for the devotees to walk along the road.
He said they were having many problems with the developer ever since the project started.
The construction work had damaged the temple that is undergoing major renovations.
The drains have been clogged with construction debris and the temple’s signboard was damaged by the developer’s cranes.
“We have always had a good working relationship with the City Hall and that is why we want to solve the problems amicably.
“The developer paid us some money for repair work but we need a proper road for our devotees,” he said.
Kumar said they had cancelled religious classes that were held during the weekends for three weeks fearing the children’s safety.
City Hall Advisory Board member Ramanathan Chinnu, who visited the place last week, said the requests made by the devotees were legitimate and the temple had documents to prove they were registered.
“I will ask City Hall to clean-up the nearby area and resurface the road as well as install streelights,” he added.
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