Temple teak row: Letter brings lorry loads of trouble for EP Jayarajan

Thiruvananthapuram: Yet another allegation of display of indiscretion has been levelled against former industry minister E. P. Jayarajan. This time the Marxist leader’s alleged slip has a spiritual colour as it has come to light that he had written to the forest minister to provide 1200 cubic metres of teak wood for the reconstruction of a temple near his ancestral house at Irinavu village in Kannur.

Forest minister K. Raju confirmed that Jayarajan had indeed send him such a request in his own letter pad two months ago. “Right then I hinted that it was not possible by law to grant his request,” Raju said. “Later on, I understand that the Department too had given such a reply,” he added.

Jayarajan’s request was eventually forwarded to the Kannavam range office in Kannur to ascertain the availability. Forest officials were baffled by the quantity sought: 1200 cubic metres. It translated into 120 lorry loads of teakwood; one lorry can hold a maximum of 10 cubic metres of wood. “We thought the figure must have been a mistake, it could have been 1200 cubic feet,” a forest official said. (This would mean four lorry loads of teak wood.)

The Forest Department can sell wood to temples but at double the cost it sells for household purposes. There is a provision to offer teakwood free to temples but it has to be first routed through the concerned Devaswom and then a high-level committee will have to decide on the matter.

Travancore Devaswom Board commissioner Ramaraja Prema Prasad said that free teakwood was released by the Forest Department for the construction of a ‘kodimaram’(flagstaff) in Sabarimala. But it is a rare occurence. E P Jayarajan said that the temple did not belong to his family. “The temple authorities came to me seeking help. It is a poor temple. Being a temple in my place, I just forwarded their request to the forest minister,” Jayarajan said and added: “All this is part of a large conspiracy to malign me.” Jayarajan did not just forward the temple management’s letter, forest officials said the minister’s single-paragraph letter said he wanted an “immediate” reply. “We sat on the letter for some time as it was a foolish requetand then wrote back saying it was impossible,” a Forest Department source said.