Ayodhya:

Water was leaking from the roof of the sanctum sanctorum at the Ram temple after the first heavy showers since it was opened to the public, its chief priest Acharya Satyendra Das said on Monday.

Alleging negligence in the construction of the temple, Acharya Das claimed that there was also no arrangement for the drainage of rainwater from the temple premises after the showers on Saturday midnight and urged the temple authorities to take necessary corrective measures.

After the senior officials were informed about the incident of water leaking from the roof, the chairman of the temple construction committee, Nripendra Mishra, reached the temple and gave instructions to repair the roof and make them waterproof, temple trust sources said.

Speaking separately to reporters about the progress of temple construction, Mr Mishra said that work on the first floor was on and will be finished by July this year, and expressed the hope that the construction of the temple will be completed by December.

Acharya Satyendra Das told reporters there was heavy leakage from the roof of the temple’s sanctum sanctorum in the first heavy showers that occurred at midnight on Saturday. Rainwater was leaking from the roof directly above the place where the priest sits in front of Ram Lalla’s idol and where people come for VIP darshan, he said.

“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. 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 said.

Meanwhile, rains on Saturday night caused severe waterlogging on the Rampath road and its adjoining laneshere. 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, locals 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.

Meanwhile, the Congress 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.

Rai said, “Not only this, the mask of the BJP, which was beating the drum of development of Ayodhya, has come off with the road collapsing at many places on the Rampath built at a cost of Rs 624 crore.” He alleged that the BJP has made Ayodhya a “hub of corruption by getting second-rate construction done in a hurry only to gain electoral benefits”.

“The BJP has only done injustice to the people there by not giving them proper compensation,” he alleged.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)