Renovation of Aihole temples delayed as locals await relocation

Government needs at least Rs 130 crore for rehabilitation.

Hubballi: The ancient monuments of Aihole in Bagalkot district continue to face a threat from human settlements and encroachments as the state government is unable to find suitable land to relocate 942 families numbering around 5,000 people living in and around the 122 protected temples and monuments.

The state government requires at least Rs 130 crore to rehabilitate the families living here. Sources in the Tourism Department informed DH that there is a discussion at the government level over “such a huge investment for a project with low returns”.

As long as the families are not relocated, rejuvenation of the monuments cannot be taken up, say officials.

The demand for the relocation of Aihole village, which is considered the “cradle of Indian rock architecture” and the first capital of the Early Chalukyas, was mooted 18 years ago. The condition of monuments is deplorable, some of which are 1,000 years old, encroached upon by families for housing cattle, parking and with bricks and stones of archaeological structures missing.

The villagers have been demanding that the entire village be relocated at once. They fear that if only a section of the village is relocated, the remaining residents could be neglected and denied basic facilities. 

The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 prevents the residents from taking up any repairs to their houses or construction of new houses, as the proposed site is envisioned to be declared as a World Heritage Site.

“We volunteered to relocate so that the government could restore Aihole’s lost glory. However, the government, for the last two decades, hasn’t done anything. We are neither allowed to repair our houses nor relocate to the new Aihole village,” said Basavaraj Hiremath, a resident of the village.

Some 82 houses were relocated a decade ago to develop the famous Durga temple, which resembles the Old Parliament of India. However, villagers say the place where the 82 families are relocated lacks basic facilities like drinking water and roads.

Officials in the district administration and the Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage (DAMH) concede that Aihole rehabilitation is a quagmire and hard to resolve.

Bagalkot Assistant Commissioner Santosh B Jagalasar, who is also the chairman of Chalukya Development Authority, says they recently acquired nearly 14 acres of land for rehabilitation. “We are awaiting the preparation of the layout. In the first phase, we can accommodate nearly 200 families and we intend to give first preference to 167 families living in and around eight monuments, which have been completely encroached,” he says.To acquire and prepare a layout for 200 families, the authority spent nearly Rs 12 crore. 

“We need around 70 acres of land and over Rs 160 crore to relocate the entire village. Getting such a large area in one place near Aihole is one of the biggest hurdles,” he says. The administration intends to relocate the village in a phased manner based on the availability of land and funds.

The delay in rehabilitation is affecting the restoration and rejuvenation of the monuments. “Unless we clear the encroachment it is hard to estimate the cost required to restore them. A few of the monuments, which are made of sand rocks, are withering, resulting in cracks,” says DAMH commissioner Devaraju A.