ASI survey of Gyanvapi mosque complex delayed by 3 hours due to devotees' rush at Kashi Vishwanath temple

A huge number of devotees gathered in the queue to worship lord Shiva on the fifth Monday of Shravan month at the Kashi Vishwanath corridor amid heightened security arrangements.

Vishnu Shankar Jain, the counsel of the plaintiff, said that the survey started at 11 am with a delay of three hours due to the rush of devotees at Kashi Vishwanath temple and continued till 12:30 PM. It again resumed at 2:30 PM and continued till 5 PM.

He said that it was a scientific survey which is different from the Advocate Commission survey held last year.

A detailed scientific study of the structures of the Gyanvapi mosque and its architecture was done by the ASI team consisting of 42 members on Monday.

However, Jain avoided giving details of the scientific survey and the artefacts found during the ASI survey and said that everything would come out in the open in the ASI’s report.

"The survey of the entire premises is being done," he said.

Another counsel of Hindu side Madan Mohan Yadav said that the work of mapping, measurement, scanning, framing, and a 3D model map of the Gyanvapi complex was being prepared during the ASI survey of the Gyanvapi complex.

"A Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) instrument is being used in the survey," he said.

Meanwhile, the joint secretary of Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee, Syed Mohammad Yasin, on Sunday threatened to boycott the survey if the rumours were not checked.

Counsel of Intezamia Committee Akhlaq Ahmad had claimed that rumours were being spread in social media as well as in a section of media that broken pieces of idols, tridents, and kalash were found under one of the cellars of the Gyanvapi complex.

Counsels of both sides, the plaintiff and defendant, were present during the ASI survey on Monday.