Amid the political uproar over the legality of the Shreemandir Heritage Corridor Project in Puri, several servitors of the temple have moved the Orissa High Court seeking an early completion of the project.
Five senior sevayats, Raghunath Gochhikar, Hajuri Krushna Chandra Khuntia, Binayak Das Mohapatra, Harekrushna Khuntia and Batakrushna Modra, have filed a PIL in the court making the Odisha Government, the Archaeological Survey of India, the Chief Administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration and the Puri Collector parties in the petition.
They have urged the court to “direct the State to complete the Puri Parikrama Project as expeditiously as possible”. They have also urged the court to “direct the Archaeological Survey of India to permit and cooperate with the State authorities to complete the project as expeditiously as possible” as the project is being carried for the benefit of pilgrims and tourists.
“Under the project, the State Government is establishing various amenities for Sevayats and pilgrims such as cloak rooms, pavilions, male and female toilets, separate Sevayat toilets, etc. These works are for improvement of the conditions of the temple, the lives of the Sevayats and the experience of the pilgrims,” they said in the petition.
Notably, on May 9, the ASI had informed the High Court that no valid permission was given for the project.
The ASI also said that the drawing and structural designs included in the revised detailed project report (DPR) are different from the one presented to the National Monument Authority (NMA).
Besides, there is every possibility that the construction agency OBCC during the excavation and removal of the earth might have destroyed the archaeological remains of the heritage site, the ASI affidavit said.
