ASI superintending archaeologist told to personally appear before HC on June 18 in Kopeshwar temple PIL case

Kolhapur: The Kolhapur bench of the Bombay high court on Thursday directed the superintending archaeologist of the ASI’s Mumbai Circle to remain personally present on June 18, taking a serious view of the authorities’ failure to submit a response in a PIL seeking conservation of the 12th-century Kopeshwar temple at Khidrapur.

The court noted that despite its earlier direction to file a reply by May 21, no response was submitted by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) or other authorities.

The HC has now asked authorities to file a comprehensive affidavit detailing the current condition of the monument, proposed conservation measures, financial allocation, sanctioned budget and a timeline for completion of the work. It also directed the ASI to submit compliance reports every two months, indicating progress until the conservation work is complete.

The public interest litigation was filed by Kolhapur-based activist Prashant Salunkhe, seeking preservation of the historic temple located on the banks of the Krishna river along the Kolhapur-Sangli border.

“The matter was listed before HC for compliance of the last order. I pointed out from the report of Parliamentary committee about the present plight of archeological sites in India and in Maharashtra. The ASI and other authorites were given time to file the replies, but none of them did and court took serious view and directed superintending archeologist ASI Mumbai to appear personally. Court also noted the fact that almost 94% of the sites, which are identified by archaeological survey, have disappeared in the recent time and express grave concern,” said Yuvraj Narvankar, lawyer representing the petitioner.

The court’s directions come amid mounting concern over the condition of heritage structures, with the bench flagging the alarming decline in protected archaeological sites and underscoring the need for urgent conservation measures.