Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said on Monday that there is no threat to the structure of Konark Sun in Bhubaneswar and that the 13th-century temple is safe from all aspects.
Sharma cited the report of the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee after a high-level review meeting with senior officers of Odisha government, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and other stakeholders in Bhubaneswar. Several other issues including water logging at the temple were discussed at the meeting.
"Several technical aspects were discussed at the meeting and it was ascertained that load-taking capacity of the existing walls of the structure is 2,323 against the required score of 469 which is almost five times higher. Similarly, the safety factor is also almost five times high," said Sharma.
Speaking on the allegations of replacing the carved stones with plain stones, the Union Minister pointed out that since 1997 not a single plain stone has been used in the temple.
Besides, he accepted a proposal for setting up a museum in Konark to showcase the broken pieces of the temple kept in different museums.
Earlier, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had written a letter to the Union Minister raising serious concern over the safety of Konark temple. Patnaik, while citing a news report by a vernacular daily, had also sought Centre's clarification on allegations of replacement of artistic stone carvings of the temple with plain stones.
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