Water tank in Varanasi's Gyanvapi mosque complex to be cleaned Saturday

Varanasi: The cleaning of the sealed water tank in the Gyanvapi mosque complex here will be undertaken on Saturday after the Supreme Court gave its nod for it.

The Supreme Court had on January 16 allowed a plea moved by Hindu women plaintiffs for cleaning the water tank in the Gyanvapi mosque that is located in an area that has been sealed.

A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra had ordered the cleaning of the water tank under the supervision of the Varanasi district magistrate.

Madan Mohan Yadav, counsel for the Hindu side, said District Magistrate S Rajlingam held separate meetings with the Hindu side and Anzuman Intezamia masjid committee on Thursday and decided that the cleaning work will start on Saturday at about 9 am. The work will be completed around 11 am, he said.

During the cleaning of the tank, which is also called Wazukhana by Muslims, two representatives from both the parties will be present.

The cleaning work will be done in such a way that no one's religious sentiments are hurt, he said.

The Varanasi district court had on July 21 last year directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a "detailed scientific survey" -- including excavations, wherever necessary -- to determine if the mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple was built upon a temple.

The mosque's "wazukhana" (a small reservoir where devotees perform ritual ablutions), where a structure claimed by the Hindu litigants to be a "Shivling" exists, will not be part of the survey, following an earlier Supreme Court order protecting that spot in the mosque complex.

Hindu activists claim that a temple existed earlier at the site and was demolished in the 17th century on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.