The people's interest and the media glare however has become an irritant for the manager of the workshop, Sunil Kumar Gupta, who is finding it difficult to cope with the work with his depleted strength of 30 odd workers.

``Earlier we had some 50 people working for us on these pillars but now only thirty are left although the newspapers are telling the world that the works here are going on at a very great speed,''Gupta goes on to say.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad president Ashok Singhal has also been quoted assaying that the work is in full swing though prefabrication does not mean that the temple can be constructedovernight. In the past eight years, this workshop has made 50-odd pillars whereas the target is 212. Shukla also scoffs at media reports that a new machine has been acquired from Italy recently saying ``if we had had such a machine, it would have helped us.''

Shukla denies any new instruction to gear up the carving work or any immediate plan to start the actual construction work at proposed site of the Ram temple.

The president of the Ram Janambhoomi Nyas for construction of Ram temple, Mahant Ramchandra Paramhans has has blamed the BJP for having `ignored' the temple issue since coming to power at the Centre. He said it was only the opposition parties' campaign which had forced the BJP to take notice of the temple issue which had otherwise been relegated to the backgroundHe, however, maintains that the temple construction in Ayodhya would start in three years' time after the pillar carving work was completed. ``It would not wait for the permission of either the Supreme Court or the Prime Minister,'' heasserts. He also expressed the view that the issue cannot be settled by the court as ``the judiciary cannot give its verdict on the birth place of Lord Rama.'' This issue can only be decided by religious scholars, he added.

``But we have all faith in Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee for he is a good man and a Ram bhakt,'' Mahant says, adding that the plan to construct a temple at the disputed site stands whether it is on the BJP's National agenda or not. The Mahant questions the relevance of the controversy being raised on the temple work now. He said the work has been going on since 1990 when the Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav was chief minister of the state. Faizabad commissioner Prem Narayan, who is also in charge of the acquired area, said a report has been sent to the Centre about the situation here. The commissioner said there was no major activity going on around the acquired land and the SC verdict is being followed in toto.