Ayodhya: Ram temple’s roof leaking after heavy showers, says chief priest

Ayodhya, June 24: Water was leaking from the roof of the sanctum sanctorum at the Ram temple here after the first heavy showers since it was opened to the public, its chief priest Acharya Satyendra Das said on Monday.
Alleging negligence in the construction of the temple, Das claimed that there was also no arrangement for the drainage of rainwater from the temple premises after the showers on Saturday midnight and urged the temple authorities to take necessary corrective measures.
After the senior officials were informed about the incident of water leaking from the roof, the chairman of the temple construction committee, Nripendra Mishra, reached the temple and gave instructions to repair the roof and make them waterproof, temple trust sources said.
Speaking separately to reporters about the progress of temple construction, Mishra said that work on the first floor was on and will be finished by July this year, and expressed the hope that the construction of the temple will be completed by December.
Acharya Satyendra Das told reporters there was heavy leakage from the roof of the temple’s sanctum sanctorum in the first heavy showers that occurred at midnight on Saturday. Rainwater was leaking from the roof directly above the place where the priest sits in front of Ram Lalla’s idol and where people come for VIP darshan, he said.
“It is very surprising that engineers from all over the country are building the Ram temple. The temple was inaugurated on January 22. But, no one knew that if it rains, the roof will leak. It is surprising that the roof of a world-famous temple is leaking. Why did this happen?” “Such an incident is happening in the presence of such big engineers, which is very wrong,” he said. Meanwhile, rains on Saturday night caused severe waterlogging on the Rampath road and its adjoining laneshere. While sewer water entered houses in the area, the Rampath road and other newly constructed roads in Ayodhya caved in at some places. There was waterlogging from Jalwanpura to Hanumangarhi Bhaktipath and from Tedhi Bazaar to the inner areas, locals said.
Reacting to the sewer water entering houses in the lanes of Rampath during the rain, Ayodhya Mayor Girish Pati Tripathi said, “I have started damage control since morning. I have deployed several teams of the municipality to remove water from the houses.” (PTI)