After a petition was filed by the Heritage Conservation Committee saying that renovation is damaging the heritage sites, the Madras High Court has ordered the renovation work at Chola age temples in Tamil Nadu to be stopped. The petitioner had said that the work was happening without proper supervision as the idols were made to go through reckless sand and water blasting, according to a Times of India report.
Talking about the Heritage Conservation Committee represented by its secretary S Sivakumar who filed a PIL on the basis of various media reports, the first bench said, “The apprehension of the petitioner is that such a shoddy work should not continue to somehow exhaust the funds which have been made available,” according to TOI.
Sivakumar submitted photographs showing the harm caused through water and sand blasting. The first bend said, “The photographs produced before us reflect the actual position before and after the renovation,” according to TOI.
PS Raman has been appointed as the amicus curiae to lead the team of experts to check the damage caused to the temples due to renovation.
An interim report was filed on August 31 by a committee which visited Mamallapuram and three other temples including Vadivudai Amman temple in Tiruvottriyur. The report detailed the violations in the conservation rules and spiritual practices followed by government agencies in the name of renovations, as told to TOI.