Moscow: Amidst protests by local religious bodies, a senior city official has strongly defended the allocation of land for the construction of a Krishna temple and Vedic Centre in Moscow by the local chapter of ISKCON (International Society of Krishna Consciousness).

"This is an officially recognised structure, this is not a banned religion and has a large following," Moscow Deputy Mayor Valery Shantsev told reporters, justifying the allocation of 1.5 hectare of land to the Moscow chapter of ISKON.

Earlier, Russia's Inter-religion Council comprising of the spiritual leaders of traditional faiths - Orthodox Christians, Muslims, Jews and Buddhists-- had qualified Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov's decision to allocate the plot for Krishna temple as 'rash' and 'inconsistent with the cultural and historical traditions of the nation'.

Russian inter-religion Council, which respects Hinduism as a global religion, however, views Krishnaites as a foreign-based sect, and in its statement expressed concern at the growing sectarian activities in the public life of Russia posing a challenge to the 'spiritual health of the nation'.