Odisha CM Requests For ASI Team To Assess Damage To Jagannath Temple

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday requested Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma to send a team of experts from Archeological Survey of India (ASI) to the state to assess damage caused to Jagannath Temple in Puri during cyclone Fani.

The severe cyclonic storm had ripped through the Pilgrim Town after landfall along Odisha coast on May 3.

“It is reported that significant damage has been caused to the infrastructure of Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri. Even the Sun Temple is reportedly closed for tourists,” Naveen wrote in the letter.

Stating that the ASI was the concerned agency for maintenance and upkeep of these world famous temple sites, he request the Union Minister to depute a high-level team of experts to assess the damages caused to these structures so that appropriate remedial measures can be undertaken at the earliest,  keeping in view the Rath Jatra scheduled for July 4 this year.