Puri: Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida, and Law, Works & Excise Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan recently took stock of the progress of several heritage projects being undertaken in this district and the Pilgrim City. A review meeting, jointly presided over by the Deputy CM and Works minister, was held here in this regard Saturday. Discussions were held on the current status of the ongoing heritage projects, remaining work and preparation of new DPRs meant for renewal of the projects. The meeting shed light on the progress of critical infrastructure like housing projects for Srimandir servitors, construction of Srimandir Adarsha Gurukulam, new building of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), construction of Raghunandan Library, development of Srimandir kitchen and its surroundings, Pramod Udyan, Konark Heritage Area Development project, restoration of Musa River, and conservation and beautification of Puri lake.
The developmental initiatives that were also tabled for discussion include multilevel car parking at Digabareni Square, development of the stretch from Acharya Harihar Square to National Highway-316, vehicle parking lot at Sipasarubali, bio-toilet near the beach and second phase development of Odia University. These apart, identification of land for an appliqué hub at Pipli, repair and renovation of mutts and temples located within 75- metre radius of the 12th-century shrine, Atharanala heritage project, integrated development of Alarnath shrine at Brahmagiri, peripheral development of Maa Mangala temple at Kakatpur and beautification of Bakulabana also figured in the discussions. Harichandan directed the departmental secretaries concerned, Puri district administration and senior officials to carry out the projects on a war footing. The Works minister also stressed the developmental initiatives at Jagannath Ballav parking lot, Uttara Parswa mutt and Pramod Udyan after visiting the sites. The meeting was attended by Puri MLA Sunil Kumar Mohanty, Pipli legislator Ashrit Pattanayak, SJTA chief Arabinda Padhee, Works department principal secretary VV Yadav, Law department principal secretary Manas Ranjan Barik, Endowment Commissioner Lalatendu Jena, Puri Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain, Superintendent of Police Vinit Agrawal, Engineer in-chief (Civil) Purnachandra Mohapatra, Odisha Bridge and Construction Corporation (OBCC) managing director Sameer Hota and other departmental officials