BHUBANESWAR : Even as the political slugfest over the Puri heritage corridor project continued, Speaker Surya Narayan Patra on Thursday took a swipe at the parties and announced the Assembly committee will inspect the site “after the political parties are finished with their jobs.”
“Let the political parties finish their jobs. The Assembly committee will then meet and inspect the heritage corridor site,” the Speaker, who is chairman of the Assembly committee on the project, told mediapersons here.
Meanwhile, a day after Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi’s visit to Srimandir during which she targeted the State government for proceeding with the corridor project without permission from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the ruling BJD hit back saying the works were being carried out with the approval of experts.
Government chief whip Pramila Mallik said, the Gajapati and sevayats had extended their support to the project and it was being opposed by only few persons with political motives. However, the Congress joined the BJP on the issue. Senior party leader Narasingha Mishra came down heavily on the State government for the illegal construction work which is posing as a threat to the temple.
“The administration has dug some big pits near temple wall without taking permission from ASI which shouldn’t have happened,” he said. Stating that unlawful digging activities around Jagannath temple are going on without taking permission from ASI, Puri MLA Jayant Kumar Sarangi said that the Bhubaneswar MP was right in her observation. Nobody is opposed to development work, but no action has been taken even though the ASI aware of the illegal construction activities, he added.