Bhubaneswar: BJP leader and Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi on Monday said that construction work on the Puri Heritage Corridor Project was continuing despite the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) issuing a letter to the authorities concerned to stop work in the ‘prohibited area’ of the Jagannath Temple.
“Archaeological Survey of India has issued letter to the concerned authorities of Puri for stopping work in the Prohibited area(100 metres)of Jagannath Temple,Puri.But work has not stopped by the State Govt till now.Illegal this is! Isn’t it time for all of us to SAVE OUR TEMPLE?” she tweeted.
She also shared the ASI’s letter dated February 5, 2022.
According to the letter, ASI staff had reported construction work within the prohibited area of the temple.
The letter pointed out that areas up to 100 metres of a protected monument fall under ‘prohibited area’ in which any type of excavation and construction is totally prohibited and areas up to 200 metres beyond that fall under ‘regulated area’, in which permission from the competent authority was required to carry out any construction.
The letter asks the authorities concerned if any permission had been taken to undertake construction in the ‘prohibited area’ and, if it had been taken, then produce that permission before the ASI.
The ASI also warned the authorities concerned to stop work immediately and that it would be forced to issue notice.
The Puri Heritage Corridor Project aims to transform the abode of Lord Jagannath into an international heritage centre. The opposition BJP has, however, alleged that the state government was carrying out construction work close to the 12th-century shrine in alleged violation of norms.
Escalating the war of words between the ruling BJD and BJP, Aparajita targeted BJD MP from Puri Pinaki Mishra on the project last week.
Reacting to Pinaki’s statement to the media on the No Objection Certificate (NOC) issued by the National Monument Authority (NMA) to the state government on September 4 last year for construction of a cloakroom, shelter pavilion and toilets within the prohibited zone of Jagannath Temple, Aparajita said that the paper being shown by him in support of the project is a letter by the NMA and not a NOC.
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