MIC president Dr S Subramaniam has accused the Selangor state government for not helping tourism industry by withholding the approval of the Indian Culture Centre project at Batu Caves.

"If the state government really opposes to it, then they are not helping the development of Batu Caves and the tourism industry," he said.

"They cannot use politics as an excuse to oppose national tourism," he said at a press conference yesterday after attending Ponggal celebration at Batu Caves.

The health minister also raised the issue regarding the delay in the cable car project at the iconic tourist spot.

"What are the problem they envisaged?" he asked.

The authority should allow the cable car project to proceed if safety and environmental requirements are met, he stressed.

It was reported by Bernama on Monday that Selayang Municipal Council had put a stop to cable car construction project and instructed the Batu Caves temple committee to submit additional documents.

In 2011, Sri Maha Mariamman temple management, Damodar Ropeways and Constructions Pty Ltd signed a memorandum of understanding to build a cable car service going up 250m in Batu Caves.

The cable car will allow visitors, especially the elderly and the disabled, easier access to the topmost cave in temple complex. The RM10 million project was to have been completed last year.

However, MPS halted construction work on June 6 last year after it was reported that several structures in Batu Caves had been built without permits.

The structures in question included the 42.7m high statue of Lord Murugan and the 272 temple steps.

The Batu Caves temple committee has urged the Selangor government to intervene to resolve the problems.

The committee claimed the issue was brought to the attention of former menteri besar Khalid Ibrahim as well as current Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali, but there has been no positive news.

The temple committee also claimed that MPS had also withheld approval for other projects in Batu Caves, including that of the Indian Culture Centre, which received an allocation of RM2 million from the federal government in 2012.