The crashing of a piece of stone slab from a mandap inside the Shree Jagannath Temple here on Monday morning has raised doubts on the quality of repair and restoration work by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). According to reports, the stone slab weighing about 30-40 kg suddenly fell from the Jalakrida Mandap near the Bimala temple on the western side of the main shrine.
There was, however, no casualty as there were no devotees present at the place at the moment. The temple police rushed to the spot and debarred devotees from visiting the area. later, a team of senior ASI officials arrived at the temple and began examining the rooftop of the mandap from where the stone had dropped. It is worth mentioning that the ASI had completed its repair and restoration works of the Shree Jagannath Temple in December last year.