Insight Bureau: Amid the dispute over the Puri Srimandir Heritage Corridor project, the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) Odisha Convenor has appealed to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to halt all activities in the excavated area of the Heritage Corridor around the Sri Jagannath Temple in Puri.
State Convener A. B. Tripathy in a letter to the CM has appealed that pending decision of the matter in the Odisha High Court and the political exchange of blows with rumors flying thick and fast leaves the devotees confused, concerned and hurt. He also asked for a suspension of the ongoing work until the case is resolved.
Further, Tripathy added that INTACH stands above all political preferences and is in a unique position to feel the pulse of the people through its twelve chapters, spread across the length and breadth of the state.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had said in an affidavit before the Orissa High Court that the Odisha government failed to obtain valid permits before undertaking massive construction work on the Jagannath Parikrama a Project. The ASI also stated that the underlying heritage was damaged beyond repair and no ground penetrating radar survey and heritage impact assessment was conducted prior to the state government conducting construction work on the heritage corridor project.
A divisional bench of the High Court, composed of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice R K Pattnaik, has asked the state government to submit its response to the ASI affidavit before June 20, setting the next hearing date for June 22.