Ancient lion sculpture lies in debris hours after excavation in Puri, Admins draw flak

A day after a huge ancient stone sculpture resembling a lion was unearthed during excavation works on the premises of historic Emar Mutt in Puri on Monday, the sculpture is still lying in the debris near the site. 

Though Puri district collector Samarth Verma visited the site to take stock of the construction work, he did not visit the place from where the stone sculpture was unearthed. Moreover, he refused to make any comment on it.

Meanwhile, the failure of the district administration and Srimandir administration to shift the sculpture to a safe place and repair it has drawn flak from netizens.

It may be mentioned that an ancient sculpture was found in two pieces and had been seriously damaged during the excavation.

Locals alleged that a ground-penetrating radar survey (GPRS) was not undertaken at the site before carrying out digging activities for which the antique sculpture got damaged.