Tourist guides claim rainwater seeping into Ellora Caves again
Top officials from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), however, said they could not confirm the seepage.
Shiv Kumar Bhagat, the superintending archaeologist for ASI, Aurangabad circle, said the area in question at Cave 32 might have an incrustation resulting from water seepage last year. "We have no reports of fresh seepage. After such incidents in the past, our expert team examined the issue. We would send our team to the site again to ascertain if the issue has recurred this rainy season," he said.
A tourist guide, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed to have witnessed the seepage. "The issue is not new and has been brought to the notice of ASI officials time and again. Organised measures are needed to work out an effective solution," he said.
Conservation expert Ajay Kulkarni suggested that protecting the flora atop and around Ellora Caves could be key to preventing rainwater seepage inside the caves. "Currently, there is no restriction on the movement of tourists, with some visitors also found roaming atop the caves.
Such footfall damages the flora that is vital to contain the rainwater seepage inside the caves," Kulkarni, a member of the non-profit expert body Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach), said.
History experts accused the ASI of being passive in this matter. Sanket Kulkarni, a history scholar, said, "We have made written pleas before the ASI officials in the past to take address the seepage issue. The issue aggravates during vigorous monsoon. It is time that elected public representatives look into the issue."
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