Hyderabad, May 28: Chief Minister K Rosaiah on Thursday said the Rajagopuram of the famous Srikalahasti temple, which collapsed last night, would be reconstructed in consultation with the Archaeological Survey of India.
Endowments Commissioner J S V Prasad went a step further and set a deadline for the mahakumbabhishekam for the finished structure: Dec. 2012.
Besides promises of reconstruction, the government also took pains to defend itself, facing as it does, criticism over its apathetic attitude. Speaking to the media here, Rosaiah said the Endowments Department had spotted cracks in the gopuram months ago and cordoned off the area to prevent loss of life and property. ”The issue was referred to the ASI and the Endowments Department had consulted a retired IIT professor from Chennai G Narasimha Rao. But by the time, the professor was to examine the cracks closely, it collapsed,” the Chief Minister explained.
An official of the Endowments Department told Express that they were about to put scaffolds to the gopuram and the works were about to begin in a day or two. ”But the structure collapsed before the commencement of these works,” he said. Endowments Department’s Principal Secretary KV Ramanachary said they had constituted a committee comprising IIT, Chennai professor (retired) G Narasimha Rao and Mehar Prasad from the same institute to look into the issue of reconstruction.
The committee would submit its report in two or three days and it would be sent to the government, he said. Asked if the grandeur of the 500yearold structure could be replicated, the Principal Secretary claimed that it was possible given the technology available.
—Agencies