Pithoragarh (U'khand) | The Bageshwar district administration in Uttarakhand has dispatched a team of officials to Sunderdhunga, located at a height of more than 12,000 feet, to inspect an unauthorised temple built in the eco-sensitive zone by a self-styled godman.

This follows a complaint by the residents of nearby villages that the baba, who lives in the temple and introduces himself as Chaitanya Akash, bathes in Devi Kund, a sacred lake that flows below the structure. The villagers have called it an act of desecration as they bathe their deities in the lake once a year.

Bageshwar District Magistrate (DM) Anuradha Pal said the 14-member team sent to Sunderdhunga comprises police and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel and officials of revenue and forest departments.

The baba bathes in the lake and also encourages tourists to do so, she said.

Pal said the team will also investigate whether there were any violations of sanctuary laws in the construction of the structure at such an altitude as a sizable part of the Nandadevi biosphere falls in the Sundandhunga region, she said.

According to police, the baba convinced some locals to help him construct the temple, made of wood and stone, by telling them that Goddess Bhagwati came in his dream and ordered him to build it.