more-inStating that the recent fire has caused extensive damage to Veeravasantharayar Mandapam inside Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, Arun Menon, Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, who is part of a 12-member committee formed to assess the damage and advise on restoration, said priority would be on salvage operations. Apart from avoiding any further damage, he said that providing structural support to damaged portions was important for even the technicians and other labourers to work safely in the clearing of debris and subsequent assessment and restoration work. He added that no particular time frame had been decided for the committee’s work at this stage. On allocation of funds from the government for the restoration work, he said that it would be taken care of by funds available with the temple. V. Balasubramaniam, Chief Engineer (retired), Public Works Department, who chairs the committee; N. Natarajan, Joint Commissioner, Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, member-secretary, and other members were present during the inspection.

Source: The Hindu February 09, 2018 02:44 UTC