BANGALORE: The High Court on Tuesday expressed serious concern over protecting the heritage of Hampi and directed the state and Archaeological Survey of India to clarify their stand on rehabilitating those who had encroached the sites and were evicted.A division bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice Ashok B Hinchigeri directed the two departments to clarify their stand on the issue by September 7.The court has sought to know in how many days it intends to complete the rehabilitation and asked whether the evacuees can be compensated with cash. “Hampi is the only heritage site and it should be saved,” the court observed.The court took the state government to task by saying that it spends crores on conducting annual festivals but was delaying the release Rs 18.5 crore for rehabilitation. The court suggested to the state to release the entire amount and later get it reimbursed from the Central government. Hospet Assistant Commissioner Karigowda informed that 9.5 acres of land has been reserved but the state is yet to release the amount.Around 236 mantaps on Bazaar Street, also known as Chariot Street, had been encroached for years, 80 per cent of whom had managed to obtain khatas in their names.
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