Puri: The Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts department of the state government may initiate measures to revive Neelachal Urban Haat in the Holy City here, district administration sources said.
The director of handicrafts recently visited the urban haat to take stock of its infrastructure. It is learnt that the Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts department has expressed its desire to revive the urban haat.
It is worth mentioning here that most of the shops at have been shut down for one cause or the other in the last few years.
Around a decade ago, the state government had decided to set up an urban haat in the Holy City here to promote local handicrafts and handloom products among the tourists.
The state government had established the urban haat by spending around Rs 3 crore in 2009. It had constructed an open-air theatre and a musical fountain at the haat to attract tourists.
Former President Pratibha Devisingh Patil had inaugurated the posh market in the presence of then Governor of Odisha Muralidhar Chandrakanta Bhandare and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Patil had visited all the 36 stalls at the market and appreciated the handicraft products of the state.
However, the traders started shutting down their stalls within just two months of the inauguration of the market citing poor business prospect. The administration did not take any steps to promote the urban haat and bring tourists to the stalls, sources said.
“As many as 35 stalls at the market have been shut down by the traders. The remaining two may face the same destiny. The musical fountain has been lying defunct. No cultural event has been organised in the open-air theatre for the last several months,” said a local.
The boundary walls of the market have been partially damaged due to poor maintenance while the murals on the shop walls have faded away. Moreover, the doors and windows of some shops have been damaged by some miscreants, sources said.
“The state government has recently announced its plan to develop Puri as a heritage city. It has planned to spend huge sums of money for upgrading infrastructure in the Holy City. But, the state government is yet to take any step to revive the Neelachal Urban Haat and promote local handicrafts,” rued a social activist.
Collector Balwant Singh said the district administration is quite hopeful that the state government will initiate measures to revive the urban haat.
“The ownership of Neelachal Urban Haat has been vested with the Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts department. The director of handicrafts has recently visited the haat. We are in touch with the department to revive the urban market and promote local handicrafts,” Singh added.