Ballari: The authorities who are supposed to protect the world heritage site of Hampi seem to be doing the very opposite.
Despite the ban on use of heavy earthmovers around the 15th century ruins of the Vijayanagar empire, it has become quite common to see them being deployed for one or another reason here either by the Public Works Department or the Hampi World Heritage Area Management Authority (HWHAMA) in the name of creating basic amenities for tourists. Movement of heavy vehicles, including buses, has been banned in Hampi to protect the monuments spread over 41.8 sqkms and the sensitivity of the area where excavation of archeological sites goes on round the year.
Battery-operated vehicles are used to ferry tourists around the heritage site in view of the ban. But shockingly, in violation of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) norms, a heavy earthmover is being used to repair a 1.5 km long road from Gejjala Mantapa to the musical pillar of the famed Vijaya Vittala temple. According to official sources, HWHAMA has deployed an earthmover to level the pothole- ridden road as it damages the battery operated cars.
They claimed the earthmover was being used after switching off its vibrator to protect the monuments nearby. Not far away, the Public Works Department is laying a road near the ancient Kamalapur tank using heavy earthmoving machines despite objections from the Archaeological Survey of India.
Sources said that an expert committee would soon arrive to assess the feasibility of building a tarred road on a 15th century ancient tank bund. The ASI too has incurred the wrath of historians in the past for its use of earthmovers at Hampi. The agency had used heavy machinery while renovating the Manmath Honda near the Virupaksha temple.
