Hindu Minister visits devastated Nagarkovil village

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 August 2002, 20:48 GMT]
A group of civilians headed by the Hindu Affairs Minister Mr. T. Maheswaran visited Nagathambiran Temple located in Nagarkovil village, which is in a high security zone in the Vadamaradchi area of the Jaffna district Friday. This was the first time a civilian group had gone to Nagarkovil since its capture by the Sri Lanka Army two years ago, sources said.

About ninety percent of the houses in the village had been destroyed. The security forces had felled the majority of the palmyra trees in the villageto fortify their bunkers and defense lines, civilian sources said.

The SLA occupies several public buildings including school and dispensary in the Village, very close to the temple area.

One of the residents who accompanied Mr. Maheswaran to Nagarkovil said, "the village now looks like a cemetery. Two years back there had been more than five hundred houses in the village. Now only about fifty houses are seen."