Submerged temples plan gathering dust

Bilaspur. Congress has raised questions regarding the plan made for the restoration of submerged mythological temples in Gobindsagar Lake. At the time of assembly elections, BJP had made big claims and promises on the scheme of submerged temples but later did nothing. Today the people of Bilaspur are feeling cheated. Regarding this, senior spokesperson of Congress Hamirpur parliamentary constituency Sandeep Sankhyan attacked BJP and said that during the last assembly elections, senior leaders of BJP had prepared a design and launched the draft for the conservation of the ancient temples of Bilaspur.

But the file of this scheme is still gathering dust in the offices of the Central Government. The same format was also published and publicized by the National President of BJP and other BJP leaders in their own ways on social media. Sandeep Sankhyan said that when the water level goes down, only eight out of 28 temples are visible.

Under this scheme, a proposal of Rs 1400 crore has been prepared for the conservation of the ancient temples which drown every year in Gobind Sagar Lake in Bilaspur. Will BJP National President and Union Minister Anurag Thakur tell why the file of the said scheme has been hung in the Central Government? Many temples have been destroyed due to decay over the last half century.

The entire old Bilaspur city was submerged in the lake in 1964 to pave the way for the Bhakra Dam. Sandeep Sankhyan said that this scheme was to be completed in three phases. The first phase was to conserve three temples, the second phase included creating the submerged Sandhu Maidan and a recreational space along with an amphitheater, walking trails and an auditorium.

The third phase involved the construction of an artificial lake where water sports activities were to begin. Of the eight remaining temples, the three main ones, which had to be conserved by reclamation from land and the creation of an artificial island, were the Rangana, Sri Khanukheshvara and Naradeshvara temples. For this scheme, the Union Minister and National President of BJP had said that there will be no problem of budget for this scheme.

Sandeep Sankhyan also accused the BJP that when the file of this scheme was prepared by the private company Larsen & Toubro and a pre-feasibility report was prepared for the Himachal Pradesh Road Infrastructure Corporation, then till now the scheme was not getting approval from the Central Government. Why are Union Minister Anurag Thakur and BJP National President not taking action?