Hyderabad: The Archeological Survey of India(ASI) has retracted its plan to shift the common science branch from Hyderabad which oversees the heritage sites in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Earlier an official order from the ASI had stated that the science branch would be shifted from Hyderabad to Mumbai.
The decision was retracted after the intervention of the Union tourism minister G. Krishna Reddy, who also has the ASI under his portfolio. It is learnt that the department has now requested the minister to set up a new common science branch at either Amravati or Vijayawada.
It is to be noted that the science branch played an important role with regards to research being conducted on the monuments located in the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, which made the branch very important for both states.
In order to keep the common science branch, officials from ASI met Krishna Reddy asking him to reconsider the decision. The ASI said that the transfer of the common science branch to Mumbai would hamper the initiatives mooted to protect the monuments in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.