bhubaneswar after 119 years the archaeological survey of india asi has started removing sand from jagmohan of sun temple in konark on thursday the sand filling was done by the british in 1903 to provide stability to the 13th century monument the decision was welcomed by experts and researchers while people are excited about the initiativeasi is quite confident of removing the sand successfully and we are taking the help of a private organization for technical knowhow asi has the expertise in preserving and restoring old monuments successfully today we started construction of a working platform which will help in drilling taking up and bringing materials from the temple top said arun mallik asi superintendent odisha circle the asi has targeted to empty the sand in three years and tied up with bdr construction pvt ltd to carry out the workmallik said in the last two years asi has conducted several studies and surveys of the structure including laser scanning to get an idea of the structure inside the edifice of 13th century ce as standing now has been studied by the experts so far as the internal geometry structural condition foundation with the help of modern technical devices moreover opinions also obtained from the experts including renowned archaeologists engineers and architects through seminars regarding removal of sands from inner side of the jagamohanawhatever we have studied so far is in pictures and from outside unless we open it we dont know what the real challenges are a 6ft x 5 ft tunnel will be opened from the top of western side of the jagamohan near the first pidha to create a passage the main aim is to stabilize the structure and we are taking utmost precautions while evacuating the sand after completion of the work the esteemed visitors of the globe will be get an opportunity to have a glance he pointed outsources said in a bid to provide structural stability to the crumbling structure it was sealed the 70ft high jagmohan with sand under the instruction of lieutenant governor of bengal j a bourdillon in 1903starting from 1950 there has been a number of highprofile meetings and investigations involving specialists deputed by unesco and there are suggestions to remove the sand from the jagamohan several times earlier though late the asi has taken the right step and started the process of removing the sand filling we welcome the step said anil dey convenor of kalinga heritage preservation trust dey has done extensive research on the sun temple of konark and has written two books on the monumentthe asi had accepted a proposal to remove sand from inside the konark temple the only unesco world heritage site at a national conference on conservation of sun temple attended by then union culture minister in february 2020it is indeed a bold decision taken by the asi and we are hopeful that they will be successful in their endeavour the sand removal was pending since long there is imminent threat to the