The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday said that it was taking steps to renovate and restore a Buddhist stupa, which collapsed last week, after incessant rains lashed Visakhapatnam. The stupa was part of a Buddhist site which was more than 2,000 years old, and is located at the top of the Thotlakonda hill on the outskirts of the city. It belongs to the Satavahana period.
Speaking to reporters after visiting the spot, Tourism Minister Muttamesetti Srinivasa Rao, more commonly known as Avanthi Srinivas, said, "We will soon renovate the stupa. I spoke to Archaeology Director Vani Mohan. I asked her to put up a file for the permanent reconstruction of this stupa. It was previously reconstructed four years ago, but it could not survive."
Srinivas is also the sitting legislator from Bheemili Assembly constituency, under whose jurisdiction, the stupa is located. The area also houses many other Buddhist structures like viharas and chaityas.
The YSRCP leader also told reporters that the state government would explore the reason for the accident and also take action against officials, if they were found responsible for the incident.
While the site was discovered in 1976 and restoration works have been carried out over the years, the dome which collapsed last week, was built in 2016, as part of a slew of renovation works carried by the Andhra Pradesh Department of Archaeology.
The dome was built as a visualisation of how the stupa would have looked 2,000 years ago and the construction took place when the city hosted the International Fleet Review event in 2016.
After the structure collapsed, the site had been cordoned off for the public, as the engineering wing of the Department of Archaeology assessed the extent of damage, based on which plans of restoration are being chalked out.
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