The first phase of construction work for laying the foundation of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, which was temporarily suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak, begins after Yogi government allowing construction activity to resume during the lockdown. The clearing of the site is underway. The metal barricades erected around the makeshift temple and the CRPF camp at the site were removed on Thursday and levelling of the site has begun.
It is pertinent to note here, that in a set of guidelines issued on April 15, the central government had relaxed norms for resuming construction of roads, irrigation works and various industrial projects where workers are available on the site and do not have to be brought in from outside.
The first phase of construction had earlier begun on March 25, when the Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath had then gone to Ayodhya and participated in the “Pran-Pratishtha” rituals with saints and seers in Ayodhya city. He had also taken part in the ritual for shifting of the Ram Lalla idol to the new makeshift structure on March 2, just a day before Navratri.
SC’s landmark judgemnet on Ram Mandir
The Supreme Court, had in November last year, in a historic decision, accepted the Hindu claim and handed over the Ram Janmbhoomi site to Hindus to build Ram Mandir and finally end the century-long dispute. The five-judge bench had unanimously come to the decision after weighing the arguments presented by all sides for 40 days.
Autonomous trust to oversee the construction of Grand Ram Mandir in Ayodhya
With the final verdict in Ayodhya case on 9 November 2019, the Supreme Court had ordered the government to form a trust for the construction of Ram Mandir within three months from the judgement day. The central government has constituted an independent 15 member trust- Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, to oversee the construction of Grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya, after the announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha on February 5.