Odisha’s First Rock Garden To Be Ready This Year

Berhampur: Odisha’s first rock garden will will come up over 6 acres of land at Ambapua in Berhampur at an estimated cost of Rs 8.5 crore.

The work on the much-hyped project started from January 1 and it will be ready within this year, informed Berhampur Development Authority (BeDA) vice chairman Chakravorty Singh Rathore. “The construction work of the project is being carried out by a private agency and we have set a deadline to complete the rock garden by 2020,” he added.

Rathore, along with Berhampur MP Chandra Sekhar Sahu, MLAs Bikram Panda and Pradeep Panigrahy and BeDA secretary Sambit Rout visited the project site and took stock of the work.

In 2015, the state government had decided to construct the rock garden with an aim to showcase the glorious stone art heritage of Odisha.

After Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik laid the foundation stone in 2016, a boundary wall was constructed with an initial funding of Rs 60 lakh.

The project has been modelled on the lines of the famous Rock Garden of Chandigarh. As per the plan, the garden will use only solar power to create awareness on use of renewable energy.

It will have public spaces for hosting exhibitions, concerts and festivals. The garden will comprise an open-air theatre, lake, waterfall, landscaping and public utility centres.