Six months after the grand opening of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the first round of showers have caused heavy waterlogging in the temple city, raising questions over its swift and massive infrastructure overhaul.
The newly built Rampath in Ayodhya – that leads to the Ram temple – has suffered several cave-ins since seasonal rain hit the temple town.
The 14-km stretch was built at a cost of Rs 300 crore. After the images of the potholes went viral, authorities said they were repairing the road on a priority. Three state government has suspended three PWD engineers over negligence, officials said.
Waterlogging was also reported outside the new Railway Station in Ayodhya.
Leakage was also reported at the temple after heavy rain at midnight last Saturday. The Chief Priest of the Ram Temple, claimed that rain water that was leaking from the roof of the temple was collecting in its sanctum sanctorum. He also claimed that there was no arrangement to flush out the rainwater from the temple premises.
Nripendra Misra, the chairperson of the Ram Mandir’s management trust, however, denied the leakage allegations and said that there was no flaw in the construction of the temple.
“Electrical, water-proofing and flooring work is under progress on the first floor. Therefore, water entered the junction boxes and fell to the ground floor through the conduit. It made it appear as if the water was dripping from the ceiling. Whereas in reality the water was exiting on the ground floor through the conduit pipe,” said the temple’s managing body in a detailed note on X.
The opposition leaders, however, were quick to pounce on the BJP and alleged that there was large scale corruption in the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. ”Even the places of worship are sources of loot for the BJP,” UP Congress President Ajay Rai said.
Ayodhya mayor Girish Pati Tripathi said that efforts to flush out the rainwater were launched soon after the waterlogging was reported.
The Ram Temple in Ayodhya was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 22.
