Prepare conservation, management plan for Ramappa temple: HC to Centre, State

The Telangana High Court on July 28 instructed the State and Central governments to prepare a comprehensive plan for conservation and management of iconic Ramappa temple in Mulugu district, which was recently recognised as a UNESCO world heritage site.

A Bench of Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy directed the officers concerned to file status reports on the matter within four weeks. The Bench considered a newspaper article as a PIL petition. Observing that “it was not an adversarial litigation”, the Chief Justice said it was a golden opportunity for both the governments to showcase the temple before the world.

The Bench stressed that officers from different departments of both the Centre and State had to make concerted efforts for the purpose. “You never work in tandem… It is national monument…You have to give it your best shot,” the judge said.

Referring to the World Heritage Committee’s recommendation of a conservation and management plan for Ramappa temple, the Bench told the authorities they “should not miss the opportunity”.

It instructed the Archaeological Survey of India, State Archaeological Department, Department of Heritage and the Mulugu District Collector to nominate officers of senior rank to coordinate the efforts. “They should prepare the plan within the framework of World Heritage Committee.”

“Time is running…Work with alacrity…You are under the lens of the entire country,” the Bench remarked, addressing the officials. Is asked the ASI’s Superintending Archaeologist at Hyderabad to chair a committee of officials and prepare the conservation and management plan.

The committee was instructed to constitute its first meeting on August 4. “Thereafter, regular meetings should be held. It should prepare a blueprint for conservation with milestones and timelines, file status reports from time to time and complete the tasks,” the Bench said.