Tunnel work halted to save medieval temple

WARANGAL: In response to the TOI storytitled "Devadula tunnel hits 800-year-old temple" on Thursday, the districtadministration has halted works at Palampet village.Coastal ProjectLtd personnel have stopped ongoing work on the Devadula Tunnel at Palampetvillage due to the cracks that had developed on the Ramappa temple. Warangalcollector B Rahul has also called in an Archeological Survey of India (ASI) teamto monitor the situation at Palampet village, where the Devadula project IIIphase tunnel works are going on.The ASI team came from Hyderabad onThursday to analyse the tunnel works. According to engineering experts there wasno risk by the ongoing works on the tunnel, in terms of the digging at Palampet,however the use of dynamite for blasting could cause threat to the temple.As per ASI norms, no construction is allowed within 200 metres ofhistoric monuments. However, the ongoing tunnel works are being done 800 metresaway from the temple site. "As per my knowledge, the works should not disturbthe temple, but we have called in an ASI team to clarify any doubts on the issueand about the cracks on the Ramappa temple," Rahul told TOI.However, Palampet sarpanch A Rammohan Rao and locals are demandingthat the contractor stop all work to avoid any further risk of cracks in thetemple. The villagers are also continuing their protest at the tunnel work siteclose to the Ramappa temple. Sarpanch Rammohan Rao and others also gheraoedengineering officials.