BHUBANESWAR/PURI: The ambitious Shree Mandira Parikrama project or the heritage corridor project around Srimandir at Puri will be completed by October this year. This was informed by the chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Ranjan Kumar Dash following a review meeting on the progress of various issues and development work of Shree Jagannath temple being undertaken under the ABADHA scheme on Tuesday.
Odisha Bridge and Construction Corporation (OBCC) of Works department, which is implementing the work, had during Rath Yatra this year handed over the outer access road on all three sides of the 12th-century shrine, public amenities and road in front of the Lions Gate, to SJTA. The amenities (which are within 55-metre radius of the temple from Meghanada Pracheri) include six toilets and three shelter pavilions in the south, north and west directions of the temple.
Speaking to media persons, the chief administrator informed the two pilgrim reception centres will come up at the demolished Emar Mutt site and near the new SJTA office where 2,000 and 1,000 devotees can be accommodated respectively. He added tender has been finalised for the renovation of 18 mutts and two temples besides, the tender has been floated for the development of the Raghunandan Library which was demolished for the project.
The library would come up behind the Shree Jagannath Reception Centre which is the biggest component of the Parikrama project. Similarly, the reconstruction of Gopaltirtha Mutt and Narayani temple and the development of five sacred water tanks (Pancha Tirtha Puskarani) will be undertaken.“We are also discussing with a third party agency the provision of drinking water for devotees inside the Srimandir and around the shrine. The work will be carried out in consultation with WATCO,” he said.
To a query on the stone ramp to come up on the northern side of the temple, Das said ASI will begin work in October and complete it within three months. “There was an accessibility audit conducted by the Department of Persons with Disabilities under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and we will work on making the temple PwD-friendly as per the audit report,” the SJTA chief informed.