Old video showing demolition of a temple allegedly encroaching Adyar riverbed shared as recent demolition by the DMK government - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 12, 2022
A video is being shared on social media claiming it as recent visuals showing a Ram temple demolition in Tambaram near Chennai in Tamil Nadu. Sharing the video, this post accuses the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government of targeted demolition of Hindu temples in Tamil Nadu. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Recent video showing a Ram temple demolition by the DMK government in Tamil Nadu.
Fact: The video shared in the post shows old visuals of an Anjaneyar temple demolition in Varadarajapurm near the Tambaram area in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. On 10 January 2022, revenue officials along with the police force headed by Tambaram Assistant Commissioner demolished this temple alleging that the structure was built by encroaching the Adyar riverbed in Varadarajapuram. Responding to the controversy on the Anjaneyar temple demolition, Tambaram Police Commissioner issued a clarification stating that other religious structures were also demolished along with the temple in accordance with the 2015 Madras High Court directive. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
On reverse image search of the screenshots in the video, a video showing similar visuals was found published by the ‘Polimer News’ YouTube channel on 11 January 2022. Polimer News reported it as the visuals showing the demolition of the Anjaneyar temple, which was built by  allegedly encroaching a riverbed. This news channel reported that a wall of a church was also demolished as part of this encroachment drive.
When we searched for further details using keywords on the internet, we found details in an article published by the ‘DT Next’ news website on 11 January 2022. According to the article, on 10 January 2022, revenue officials along with the police force led by Tambaram Assistant Commissioner demolished the Anjaneyar temple for allegedly encroaching the Adyar riverbed in Varadarajapuram near the Tambaram area in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Reporting the same, several other news websites have also published articles in January 2022. They can be seen here, here and here.
Responding to the controversy on Anjaneyar temple demolition, in January 2022, Tambaram Police Commissioner issued a press note stating that all religious and commercial structures built illegally by encroaching Adyar riverbed will be demolished in accordance with the 2015 Madras High Court directive. Tambaram Commissioner said a church was also demolished along with the Anjaneyar temple during this encroachment drive.
To sum it up, an old video showing the demolition of a temple allegedly encroaching the Adyar riverbed in Tamil Nadu is shared as a targeted demolition drive by the DMK government.