Bhubaneswar: It's 800 years old, it's a world famous architectural marvel and it's going to collapse. Is this how we take care of India's heritage?
The structure of the 13th century world famous Konark temple is under serious threat. Officials say it might fall at any time.
On December 16, an eight-member team from the Archaeological Survey of India and state Government's Works department visited the Konark temple to study the structural safety of the Sun temple.
The State Works secretary, who was member of the panel, revealed to CNN-IBN that the Archaeological Survey of India and is not doing enough for the safety of the temple.
After CNN-IBN reported that an expert panel found the Konark temple structure unsafe, the Orissa government sent two member fact-finding mission to the temple to look into safety of structure.
The government will approach ASI after looking into the report by the fact-finding mission.
The Works secretary blamed the ASI for the negligence of the Sun temple.
"The ASI is responsible for this structural threat, they get adequate funds for this but they do not do proper maintenance," Works secretary Artabandhu Muni said.
The actual threat to the temple is from the inner portion. When the temple was built, it was filled with sand. While the outer view of the temple might look safe experts believe the inner structures, which rests on sand, might have subsided.
However the ASI says there is no immediate threat to the temple.
“There is no serious threat to the temple. It is our responsibility to keep the temple safe and we will do that." Deputy Superintendant ASI K P Padhi said.
The UNESCO has declared the Konark temple as a World heritage site. There is no dearth of funds for the temple but it seems not enough is being done to protect this heritage site.
The ASI is trying to play down the issue till the final report of the technical team is placed. But if no action is taken immediately, it might be too late to act.
Comments
0 comment