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VARANASI: Between the double-layered steel barricading to isolate Gyanvapi mosque for security purposes, a cut of 7 feet by 7 feet was made to install a steel gate and create a passage late Wednesday for priests to enter the mosque’s southern cellar.
Divisional commissioner Kaushal Raj Sharma said the arrangements to create the passage were made in compliance with the district judge’s order. The passage has been cut on the mosque side, directly opposite the Nandi idol in the Kashi Vishwanath complex.
“The entry to Gyanvapi’s southern cellar is located between two vertical pillars installed for barricading. The steel pipes that fixed them were cut to equal height and width. The passage between the barricading and mosque wall was blocked by fixing steel pipes to ensure that no one from the mosque reached the entry point. After this, a two-flap door was fixed with the steel barricading,” he said.
After the demolition of the Babri mosque in 1992, the Gyanvapi mosque had been fortified, initially with ordinary barricading but in the late ’90s it was covered with iron barricading. The barricading was 25 feet high on the northern and western sides and 15 feet on the southern and eastern. A proposal to increase the iron barricading height on these two sides was made in 2009 under a security modernisation plan.
According to records, Rs 35 lakh was released in 2010 to increase the barricade height for proper fortification of Gyanvapi mos-que and for installation of other equipment.
As the Ram Janmabhoomi Ayodhya movement intensified, Kashi Vishwanath Gyanvapi complex was declared a highly sensitive site. To monitor its security arrangements, a standing committee under the ADG (security) came into existence after 1992. Following the terrorist attack in Varanasi in 2006, the security of this complex was increased further.
At present, the complex is divided into two zones. The red zone (inner area) is in CRPF hands while civil police do the job of frisking visitors and crowd regulation. The outer cordon’s security is jointly handled by civil police and the Provincial Armed Constabulary.
Divisional commissioner Kaushal Raj Sharma said the arrangements to create the passage were made in compliance with the district judge’s order. The passage has been cut on the mosque side, directly opposite the Nandi idol in the Kashi Vishwanath complex.
“The entry to Gyanvapi’s southern cellar is located between two vertical pillars installed for barricading. The steel pipes that fixed them were cut to equal height and width. The passage between the barricading and mosque wall was blocked by fixing steel pipes to ensure that no one from the mosque reached the entry point. After this, a two-flap door was fixed with the steel barricading,” he said.
After the demolition of the Babri mosque in 1992, the Gyanvapi mosque had been fortified, initially with ordinary barricading but in the late ’90s it was covered with iron barricading. The barricading was 25 feet high on the northern and western sides and 15 feet on the southern and eastern. A proposal to increase the iron barricading height on these two sides was made in 2009 under a security modernisation plan.
According to records, Rs 35 lakh was released in 2010 to increase the barricade height for proper fortification of Gyanvapi mos-que and for installation of other equipment.
As the Ram Janmabhoomi Ayodhya movement intensified, Kashi Vishwanath Gyanvapi complex was declared a highly sensitive site. To monitor its security arrangements, a standing committee under the ADG (security) came into existence after 1992. Following the terrorist attack in Varanasi in 2006, the security of this complex was increased further.
At present, the complex is divided into two zones. The red zone (inner area) is in CRPF hands while civil police do the job of frisking visitors and crowd regulation. The outer cordon’s security is jointly handled by civil police and the Provincial Armed Constabulary.
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