Warangal Traders Bear The Brunt Of Heritage Tag For Ramappa Temple

The Ramappa temple at Palampet in Telangana's Warangal has been given the tag of UNESCO World Heritage site. With the latest development, local traders are going to face trouble. According to UNESCO, neither shops nor any other structures should be present within 100 metres surrounding the temple. 

On the basis of this issue, the thousand pillared temple and Warangal fort have been rejected by UNESCO. The centre has prepared a dossier which has the entire information related to the historic Ramappa Temple. In September 2019, to review the site, UNESCO Representative Vasu Poshyanandana's trip has been confirmed. As a result, small shops and other constructions present in front of the temple have been demolished. After the completion of the UNESCO delegates' visit, the authorities gave permission for the small traders to set up temporary shops near the parking area. But the businesses didn't go well and the small traders urged the ministers and other officials to allot places for shops on the east side of the temple or give them permission to run shops in front of the temple. Despite repeated pleas to the ministers, including the district collector, to grant permission to set up shops in front of the temple, or to allocate permanent space on the east side of the temple, nothing worked out.  

Pillalamarri Siva, the president of Ramappa Small Traders Association said that for two years, many people have lost their livelihood as the authorities have removed the shops after UNESCO had sent a proposal to Ramappa. He further added that the authorities assured that a permanent place would be allocated to shopkeepers but now none of them are responding.