Cuttack: The Orissa High Court Friday directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to undertake a joint inspection with the state government of the ongoing “illegal” constructions that allegedly affected the health of the Jagannath Temple in Puri.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice S Murlidhar and Justice RK Patnaik also asked the ASI, the custodian of the 12th-century shrine, to file a report in this regard to the court at least three days before April 21, the date fixed for the next hearing of the matter.
One Dilip Kumar Baral, a resident of Puri, has filed a PIL in the high court seeking its order to stop the construction activities undertaken by the state administration for a developmental project near the temple allegedly violating the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.
According to the provisions of the Act, the area within 100 meters from a monument is a ‘prohibited’ zone while that within 200 meters falls under the ‘regulated’ category, the petition said.
“Any repair, modification or constructions in the prohibited or regulated areas require prior permission from the ASI,” it said.
However, the state government has not taken permission from the ASI though the work is going on in the prohibited area, the petitioner claimed.
“Cracks have appeared in the Nata Mandap of the 12th-century shrine due to these construction activities” and continued construction work will pose a threat to the structure of the temple, it said.
Appearing for the state government, Advocate General A K Parija informed the court that correspondences were exchanged between the Odisha government and the National Monuments Authority (NMA), which functions under the Union Ministry of Culture and is responsible for grant of permission for construction-related activity in the prohibited and regulated area.
Meanwhile, labourers working on the project were on Friday seen filling the pits dug near the temple with sand. It is not clear why they were doing so.
The issue relating to the digging of pits close to the temple has been debated even in Parliament.
Odisha Chief Secretary SC Mpohapatra had claimed that the Puri Heritage Corridor work is being done in “coordination” with the ASI.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik along with Puri’s titular king Gajapati Dibya Singha Deb had last year laid the foundation stone for the project which seeks to provide better amenities to pilgrims, including toilets and cloakrooms.
PTI