The tussle between the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the principal Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the Puri Heritage Corridor Project has intensified following the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)’s latest submission within the Orissa High Court that the continued challenge work might need induced harm to the twelfth century Jagannath temple and that it was being carried out with out permission from competent authorities.
While the BJP has periodically focused the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD authorities over the execution of the Puri challenge, the stand taken by the central physique ASI within the excessive courtroom has fueled the row.
In its affidavit submitted within the excessive courtroom on May 9, the ASI acknowledged that the state authorities was enterprise the challenge’s development work throughout the prohibited and controlled areas of the monument with out legitimate permission. The courtroom is listening to a PIL in opposition to the challenge, which has raised issues over its affect on the Puri temple’s structural security.
The ASI’s affidavit got here after it undertook a joint inspection of the challenge website together with the state authorities officers on May 1 in pursuance of the courtroom’s order. The joint group comprised of ASI functionaries in addition to state authorities officers just like the Puri collector and the Odisha Bridge and Construction Corporation (OBCC) managing director.
In response to the ASI’s stand, Advocate General Ashok Kumar Parija instructed the division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice RK Pattanaik {that a} no-objection certificates (NOC) was granted to the challenge by the Centre’s National Monuments Authority (NMA) on September 4, 2021. He additionally mentioned the state authorities will file its reply to the ASI’s affidavit.
While posting the matter for subsequent listening to on June 22, the courtroom requested the state authorities to maintain in view the ASI’s observations as and when it undertakes any additional challenge work.
Seizing on the ASI’s stand, the BJP’s Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi launched a contemporary assault on the Patnaik authorities, tweeting that “After filing of ASI’s affidavit before the High Court, I am convinced that Lord Jagannath is trying to save himself and his temple from an elected state government which is hell bent upon brazenly defying the law”. She had additionally raked up the difficulty within the Lok Sabha in March this 12 months.
Speaking to The Indian Express, BJP nationwide spokesperson Sambit Patra, who had contested from the Puri constituency unsuccessfully within the 2019 parliamentary polls, known as the Patnaik authorities’s transfer to push the challenge an “assault on the Odia heritage”. “The state authorities carried out development works with out approval from competent authority. The Shree Jagannath temple is a heritage for Odias. If we destroy our archaeological stays, who could be liable for it,” he mentioned.
Patra additionally tweeted: “In Lok Sabha, Puri MP Pinaki Misra said that only 4 toilets are being constructed in the restricted zone of Jagannath temple. Pinaki Misra should apologise for this blatant lie.”
Hitting again, BJD chief Pinaki Misra mentioned, “Work has been underway with the NMA’s NOC. We have never talked about the ASI’s approval. Whatever is happening is within the preview of law. Reception counter would come up in regulated area with permission. And where is it written that DPR (detailed project report) cannot be revised?”
The Puri MP mentioned that “Sambit Patra or I can’t determine how a lot space ought to be dug out. Digging exercise is carried out as per solutions of civil engineers”, adding that “if anybody is having any points with that, they’ll go to the excessive courtroom or Supreme Court”.
Puri temple, which is likely one of the 4 dhams for Hindus within the nation, holds immense non secular significance for the folks of Odisha. “The Puri temple is of utmost significance for the folks of the state. If the temple is broken for any motive, it’ll harm all Odias. The ASI is equally liable for remaining silent for therefore lengthy,” mentioned Bijoy Mohapatra, a senior BJP chief who was previously with the BJD.
One of the Patnaik authorities’s most formidable tasks, the Puri Heritage Corridor Project, with an estimated value of Rs 3,200 crore, was unveiled in December 2019 with the target to rework Puri into a world place of heritage. A decision relating to the challenge — which incorporates redeveloping main parts of the holy city and within the neighborhood of the temple for guests and vacationers — was unanimously handed by the state Assembly in February 2020.
From the electoral perspective, the Puri parliamentary constituency, a standard BJD stronghold, is equally essential for the saffron get together. Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the state BJP had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to contest from the seat. The get together had lastly fielded Patra, who misplaced the election to Misra with a margin of about 11,000 votes.
The Puri heritage challenge is likely one of the many temple redevelopment tasks launched in Odisha following the 2019 Assembly polls, when the BJP outstripped the Congress to turn out to be the primary Opposition. Some of the temples which can be present process or have undergone renovation embody Lingaraj temple in Bhubaneswar, Samaleswari temple in Sambalpur, Bariprada temple, Maa Tarini temple in Ghatgaon, Konark Heritage Corridor, Maa Bhadrakali temple in Bhadrak, Akhandalamani temple in Aradi, Tara Tarini temple in Ganjam, Baldevjew temple in Keonjhar, and Sri Gupteswar temple in Koraput.
These redevelopment tasks have been mentioned to have been rolled out as a part of the BJD’s technique to counter the BJP’s rise within the state, which have additionally confronted obstruction from the BJP-ruled Centre. In April this 12 months, the Center instructed the Odisha authorities that its ordinance to deliver the Eleventh-century ASI-protected Lingaraj temple in Bhubaneswar and its related temples underneath a particular regulation was exterior the legislative competence of the state Assembly. It instructed the BJD authorities that the ordinance was in battle with the principles laid down underneath the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act, 1958. The particular regulation was meant to facilitate the state authorities’s growth plan for Lingaraj temple and its peripheral space. The 66-acre “Ekamra Kshetra” growth plan was launched to protect the heritage and growth of the 9 websites and their close by areas at a value of round Rs 700 crore. The BJD authorities would now deliver an modification to the laws.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
