BHUBANESWAR: Orissa government on Saturday sent an expert team to study the drainage system of Konark Sun Temple which has been waterlogged for the last three days.
A six-member team comprising engineers and construction officials from the state government and state-owned Orissa Construction Corporation (OCC), inspected the 13th century monument. They will soon submit a plan to drain out the water to a nullah. No representative of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which has been looking after conservation of the world heritage site for decades, was part of the visiting team.
"As ASI looks after the monument, we will hand over our plan to them. After getting their nod, we will build a 1,900m concrete drain to connect the temple with the Patharabuha nullah (about two km away on the Konark-Bhubaneswar route). The total expenditure would be around Rs 1 crore," executive engineer (drainage) S K Sahu told TOI. "We will also request ASI to either construct the proposed drain in the protected area (covering a radius of 120m from the shrine) or allow us to do it," he said.
Chief secretary T K Mishra said, "The state government in association with ASI would do the needful to ensure that the Sun Temple does not face drainage problems in future. We will soon convene a joint meeting to work out the strategy." ASI superintendent in Bhubaneswar, A K Patel, was not available for comments.
Sources said the expert team was rushed to Konark on the advice of chief minister Naveen Patnaik as the ASI had been cold shouldering demands for putting in place proper drainage facilities at the monument.
A six-member team comprising engineers and construction officials from the state government and state-owned Orissa Construction Corporation (OCC), inspected the 13th century monument. They will soon submit a plan to drain out the water to a nullah. No representative of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which has been looking after conservation of the world heritage site for decades, was part of the visiting team.
"As ASI looks after the monument, we will hand over our plan to them. After getting their nod, we will build a 1,900m concrete drain to connect the temple with the Patharabuha nullah (about two km away on the Konark-Bhubaneswar route). The total expenditure would be around Rs 1 crore," executive engineer (drainage) S K Sahu told TOI. "We will also request ASI to either construct the proposed drain in the protected area (covering a radius of 120m from the shrine) or allow us to do it," he said.
Chief secretary T K Mishra said, "The state government in association with ASI would do the needful to ensure that the Sun Temple does not face drainage problems in future. We will soon convene a joint meeting to work out the strategy." ASI superintendent in Bhubaneswar, A K Patel, was not available for comments.
Sources said the expert team was rushed to Konark on the advice of chief minister Naveen Patnaik as the ASI had been cold shouldering demands for putting in place proper drainage facilities at the monument.
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