Mysuru:”The restoration work of St Philomena’s Church, one of the largest churches in south India, being done with funding from the tourism department, has slowed down. Reason: alleged failure in releasing funds by the department to the company entrusted with the work.

With technical support by the department of archaeology museum and heritage, the work on the city’s iconic church started in March 2016. It was scheduled to be completed in 18 months. Mumbai-based Savani Construction Company is executing the work.

The place of worship will be refurbished at a cost of Rs 2.70 crore. The renovation was necessitated after the 90-plus year structure developed cracks due to vagaries of weather. The wetting of the rooftop and walls due to rainwater seepage had caused worry among the Christian community.

Though the community collected funds for renovation, it was too little. Meanwhile, the heritage department got into action and secured funds from the tourism department. It started the renovation work to ensure that the iconic structure is intact, complete with its richness.

The restoration of the structure covers dismantling of plaster, plastering, lime rendering, cornice and stucco work, resetting of granite stone, restoration and reconstruction of decorative elements and painting in five phases. The interior and exterior walls of the church will be given lime plastering.

However, the work is moving at snail’s pace due to various reasons. Sources said that the tourism department, which was funding the work, had not released funds for the next stage of work, resulting in slow progress of the work.

“As per the agreement, the work was supposed to be completed by August. But because of the delay, it will be completed by mid-2018.

The lime plastering work inside the church is almost over, but for a small portion in the north side of the structure. The work on the outer wall has started. But the work has slowed down at present,” an officer from the construction company said.

When contacted, tourism department deputy director H P Jharandhan told Times of India that the department has released Rs 50 lakh for the first phase of works, and Rs 1.20 crore for the second phase.

“The amount will be released only when the contractor provides the utilization certificate to the head office. I will verify whether the company has submitted the details,” he added.