The dome at Buddha Smriti Park in Patna that has developed white spots and is showing signs of seepage and (below) a branch of the Bodhi tree at the park. Pictures by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, July 15: Faults have surfaced at the Buddha Smriti Park, a dream project of chief minister Nitish Kumar to attract Buddhist tourists from across the globe, a little over a year after its completion.

The Dalai Lama had inaugurated the park on May 27 last year. Nitish had invited the spiritual leader to do the honours with the intent of making it a big draw with Buddhist travellers.

But the dome has developed seepage problems and some white spots. Last year, the state witnessed negligible rainfall, which implies that the first heavy early monsoon rain this year has exposed the fault-lines in the structure.

“Water gushed through the four doors of the central dome atop the meditation hall. The seepage of water has also moistened the wooden surface of the hall,” Sukhdeo Razak, the in-charge of the park, wrote in a letter to the managing director of the Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation (BSTDC).

A copy of Razak’s letter, dated June 20, 2011, is with The Telegraph.

The missive preceded the shrine’s inspection and survey, which pointed to defective construction work as the reason for the seepage. The shrine’s in-charge has also pointed out seepage at the ticket counters, which have an uncovered electric supply wire passing adjacent to them.

That’s not all. A branch from the Mahabodhi tree brought from Bodh Gaya and lodged in the shrine’s premises collapsed in the recent wave of thunderstorms. The shrine’s officials have managed to get it standing by erecting wooden support around it.

The monument was built at a cost of Rs 134 crore. The construction work was carried out by Parasnath Developers under the guidance and supervision of the Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation. Now, the corporation has shot off a letter to the Parasnath management, asking them to explain why the defects have surfaced.

A local official of Parasnath Developers, A.K. Singh, admitted the white spots on the dome surface. But he offered an explanation. “White spots may have surfaced because of ill maintenance of the dome. Our work was confined to the construction of the shrine and not its upkeep and maintenance”. He added that his company’s name should not be unnecessarily dragged into a controversy.

Officials of Lall and Associates, a Delhi-based architecture company which designed the monument, too rejected the seepage theory. “The allegation of water seepage is bogus. If at all some water had seeped into the dome, it would have taken place through the joints of the glasses. It is impossible for the water to seep through the concrete dome which is water-proof.”

Razak’s letter has been forwarded to the divisional forest officer, Patna, and the principal conservator of the forest, Bihar, besides the urban infrastructure corporation.

Sources in the agency, however, suspect that the construction of the dome was faulty. The engineers of the corporation claimed that the dome was slightly tilted, indicating a weak and defective construction. They felt that the dome should have been built with “more caution” given the fact that Patna fell in an earthquake-prone zone.

Urban development minister Prem Kumar said he was ignorant about the developments. “We will definitely inquire into the current condition of the Buddha Smriti Park,” he said, adding that so far, he had not received any official complaint about the shrine.