It is official now. Among the biggest rock-cut cave temples in India, the Jogeshwari caves will soon be free of human habitation and encroachment. 

The 6th century AD caves, which have been infested with encroachments and abused over the years, will, instead, be a place which tourists could visit as a heritage site and a garden. 

Following a Bombay High Court order for the removal of unauthorised structures in October last year, the state has decided to preserve the heritage precinct by designating the space as a public garden. The plot on which the caves exist will now be declared a heritage garden space. 

A state proposal to designate the 13,000 sq m plot as a "garden" was tabled on Tuesday. The proposal has come as a directive from the state urban development department, which had submitted the garden plan as an affidavit for its action plan for the protection of caves to the courts last year, and is likely to get the committee's nod.

Apart from the Jogeshwari caves, the court has also directed the removal of unauthorised structures and protection of Mandpeshwar, Mahakali and Kanheri caves in suburban Mumbai. 

Based on the court order, a team of officials from the Archaeological Survey of India and the state urban development department prepared an action plan for the removal of encroachments. In order to protect the site from future encroachments, the committee simultaneously asked the government to demarcate the area as a "garden".

Sandeep Ashar/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication