By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: Minister of State (I/c) of Culture and Tourism, Prahlad Singh Patel in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday said that several steps have been taken by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to mitigate the impact of saline action, water logging, erosion and vegetative intrusions such as cleaning of the surface by paper pulp method, consolidation and strengthening of stones wherever needed, plantation of trees in surrounding area to prevent mechanical erosion by wind action, removal of water by installing pumping sets, and periodic biocidal treatment for control of vegetative intrusion. Conservation work of monuments, including Sun Temple, Konark is a continuous process and the said monument, also a World Heritage Site, is in a good state of preservation due to regular care by ASI.
ASI has introduced plain stones only where original stones were missing or for filling of gaps to ensure structural stability and to prevent water ingress. All conservation work is carried out as per ASI’s conservation policy, 2014. Annual Conservation Plan is regularly drawn by ASI every year, for review of the requirements at the monument for its appropriate preservation.
