The Puri district administration in Odisha on Tuesday denied permission to hold a procession by a group of people who have been opposing the ongoing heritage corridor project in the pilgrim town. Citing the law and order situation, the district authorities rejected an application of the 'Srimandir Banchao Abhiyan', seeking permission to organise a 'pada jatra' on Wednesday.
"We have temporarily suspended the pada jatra programme on Wednesday. But our opposition to the project will continue," Srimandir Banchao Abhiyan convenor Binay Nrusingha Mohapatra said. The local organisation will hold a meeting to decide its next course of action on the issue, he said.
It had planned to take out the procession from Shree Gundicha temple to Shree Jagannath temple as a mark of protest against the state government’s heritage corridor project around the 12th-century shrine. Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi, who was likely to participate in the programme, said: “I am going to Puri tomorrow in the forenoon to seek blessings of Mahaprabhu Jagannath- the guiding force of our lives…. Looking forward."
A delegation of the Sreemandir Corridor Project Surakshya Manch, another local outfit that supports the project, also submitted a memorandum to the district administration and demanded that the work for the development of amenities for devotees should be completed at the earliest.
“We want the heritage corridor project should be completed soon without further delay,” said Manch leader Prasanna Mohapatra. Meanwhile, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra, in a statement issued by the state unit of the party, said work of the heritage corridor should be stopped till the verdict of the High Court is availed.
Citing allegations of "indiscriminate digging, rules being flouted and safety of the temple being compromised", Patra also urged the Odisha government to stop all ongoing construction works. Noting that the BJP was not against the development and more amenities for devotees of Lord Jagannath, Patra said the provisions of the Ancient Monuments & Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMSAR) Act 1958, which governs the ASI and protects our heritage, cannot be flouted at any cost.
Meanwhile, Gajapati Maharaja of Puri, Dibyasingha Deb, had on Monday said the heritage corridor project poses no threat to the 12th-century temple, and sought the cooperation of everyone for smooth implementation of the initiative.
(With PTI inputs)
