The work of widening a 2-km stretch of State Highway 49, adjacent to the ancient Kamalapur tank bund of the erstwhile Vijayanagar period, has been stopped.
Responding to concerns expressed by the Archaeological Survey of India, the Public Works Department (PWD), which was getting the work executed, has ordered the stoppage of work.
“We have stopped the work. We have also written to the Hampi World Heritage Area Management Authority informing that the work would be taken up only on getting permission from it,” M.M. Hiremath, Executive Engineer, PWD, told The Hindu . The widening of the road was posing a threat to the ancient irrigation system, built during the 15th century by the Vijayanagar kings. The tank stands as a testimony of the engineering expertise of the Vijayanagar period making use of the hydraulic system for optimum utilisation of water for irrigation and drinking water purposes.
The tank has been irrigating around 1,500 acres of land throughout the year enabling the farmers to cultivate paddy, sugarcane and banana crops and get good harvest.
The body’s concern was that the road development work would severely affect the original character of the ancient tank, which fell within the core zone of the Hampi World Heritage Site.
Two sluices, with stone slab constructions, that distributed water to different directions, would be affected. To prevent the likely damage and also to avoid unnecessary criticism and serious observations from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), which has been constantly monitoring the upkeep of the Hampi World Heritage Site, N.C. Prakash Nayakanda, Deputy Superintending Archaeologist, Hampi Mini-Circle of ASI, Hampi, had strongly objected to the development work.
He had also written to the Director General of ASI, Principal Secretary Department of Kannada and Culture, Government of Karnataka urging them to get the work stopped immediately.
