New Delhi: Conservation of the ancient Ta Prohm temple in Cambodia has been entrusted to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which will undertake the work in six phases beginning this year at an estimated cost of $ five million.

The task spread over 10 years is being undertaken in response to repeated requests to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee from the Royal Government of Cambodia and follows an agreement signed between the two countries during Vajpayee's visit to that country in 2002.

The project envisages conservation of not only the stones and the monument, but also of the age-old tree structures enveloping them and the surrounding environment, in a unique blending, in harmony with nature, an official release said quoting Culture Secretary Dhanendra Kumar who is in Cambodia.

"With the commencement of the conservation work, a new chapter has been written in the bilateral cooperation of India and Cambodia," he said while inaugurating the first round table on Ta Prohm temple at Phnom Penh in Cambodia.

The restoration work of Ta Prohm temple was being undertaken with the use of latest technological innovations like 3D laser scanning, he said adding that a team from IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), Chennai had already conducted site visit to Phnom Penh to complete studies on soil mechanics and structural engineering analysis.