Aug. 16: Garbage dumped by people on the banks of the Brahmaputra is leading to pollution of the surroundings around the rock-cut sculptures of Vishnu Janardan on the river bank near Sukreswar temple, said officials of the Guwahati circle of the Archaeological Survey of India. These beautifully engraved life-size sculptures date back to the ninth century AD and depict the images of Hindu deities —Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesh, Surya and Devi. All the images engraved in this single huge piece of rock are depicted in a sitting position. An iron grille already runs from one end of the sculpture to the other in order to prevent people from slipping into the river that touches the concrete steps on the edge of the site. However, the slope of the riverbank on the right of the sculpture with garbage strewn all over makes for a very unpleasant site. This garbage has mostly been generated by authorities of the Sukreswar temple, situated at a higher level on the banks of the Brahmaputra in Panbazar. “The Vishnu Janardan rock-cut sculptures are of much historical significance and the site where it is situated is a protected one. But the people of the temple, situated at a higher altitude compared to the sculptures, throw dry flowers, waste paper and plastics generated from the temple on the slope. This huge heap of garbage is now threatening to dirty the site of the rock sculptures. We have already asked the temple authorities to refrain from using the slope as a dumping ground, but they continue to do so. This makes the entire sight look much polluted,” said S.S. Gupta, superintendent of the Guwahati circle of the ASI. “The iron grille that is present around the archaeological site was created to prevent visitors from slipping into the water but it cannot ward off the garbage, which may at one point drift into the site. Hence, we will soon be erecting a concrete wall on the right side of the archaeological site to ensure the waste do not slide down. This will ensure that area surrounding the site remains clean. We will also be repairing the pipe grille on the top of the structure so as to prevent people from falling off the roof. We will start the construction as soon as the monsoon is over and the water level of the Brahmaputra recedes,” said Gupta. The ASI had received a fund worth Rs 9.42 lakh from the Centre solely for the conservation of this historical site. However, a person working on the temple premise of the Vishnu Janardan temple said, “The authorities of the Sukreswar temple do not deliberately dirty the surroundings of the archaeological site. They throw it on one side of the river bank, but since the slope is steep, the garbage tends to slip towards the side where the rock-cut sculptures are present.”