Kathmandu, March 30 -- The Supreme Court has directed the government, the Pashupati Area Development Trust and the authorities concerned to strictly avoid any activities that undermine the religious, cultural and spiritual significance and ecology of the Pashupati area.

Issuing a full text of the January verdict on Friday, the top court has banned the use of concrete in the construction within the Unesco World Heritage site, to stop the burial of the dead bodies in the Shleshmantak forest area and to allow no road passage through the area.

A division bench of justices Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada and Nahakul Subedi has passed a strongly worded verdict following the reluctance of the state agencies to abide by a similar ruling from the court ...