Ayodhya Ram temple's roof leaking: Priest

Water was leaking from the roof of the sanctum sanctorum at the newly-opened Ram temple in Ayodhya after the city received the first heavy showers of the season, chief priest of Ram Janmabhoomi temple Acharya Satyendra Das has said.

Alleging negligence in the construction of the temple, Das claimed that there was no arrangement to drain out the rainwater from the temple premises after the showers on Saturday midnight.

He urged the temple authorities to take cognisance of the problem and take necessary corrective measures.

The chairman of the temple construction committee, Nripendra Mishra, reached the temple premises and gave instructions to repair the roof and make them waterproof.

The chief priest said that rainwater was leaking from the roof directly above where the priest sits in front of Ram Lalla's idol and where people come for VIP darshan.

Acharya Das told reporters on Monday (24) that there was heavy leakage from the temple's sanctum sanctorum roof.

"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," Acharya Das said.

"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 added.

Meanwhile, rains on Saturday night caused severe waterlogging on the Rampath road and its adjoining lanes. 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, residents 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."

However, attempts to seek the response of top officials of the Public Works Department (PWD) did not fructify.

Corruption allegation

Meanwhile, the Congress party has accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of indulging in corruption in the temple construction and building of civic facilities in the temple town.

"Be it the coffin of the martyrs or the temple of God, all these have become opportunities for corruption for the BJP. Even the symbols of faith and purity in the country are just opportunities of loot for them," Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai alleged in a statement on Monday.

"It has become clear from the statement of chief priest Satyendra Das that water is leaking in the sanctum sanctorum of the Ram temple built at a cost of crores due to the first rain and there is no proper drainage system," he said. (PTI)