Telangana High Court said the State and Central governments should ensure that Ramappa temple, which was recently recognised as world heritage site, was a symbol of perfect balance of tourist place and protected ecosystem.
Hearing a PIL on Ramappa temple site, a bench of Chief Justice and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy noted that there was a possibility of sudden real estate boom in the vicinity of the temple in the backdrop of it securing the world heritage site tag. When a place becomes popular, naturally more people would be inclined to invest in properties in and around such place.
Ramappa temple is likely to witness such a boom and there could be a spurt in construction activity. It was the responsibility of the government to ensure a proper balance of providing facilities to tourists and keeping the area clean of encroachments and illegal constructions, the bench noted.
The civic authorities should demarcate construction and no-construction zones at the site. Ecological system in the vicinity of the temple should not be disturbed, the bench said. Citing the example of Quli Qutub Shah tombs in Hyderabad, the bench said the onus of making and keeping Ramappa temple site a protected place lay with the authorities.
The bench instructed the State and Central governments to file status reports on the efforts made by them to lay down milestones for complete conservation and protection of Ramappa temple within the time-frame prescribed by the World Heritage Committee. The matter was posted to September 29 for next hearing.
