PURI: The demolition of mutts within a 75-metre radius of the Jagannath Temple here has been deferred following protests by mahants. The drive was to resume on Tuesday, after a two-day break for Ganesh Puja, with the demolition of Bada Akhada mutt but had to be postponed following defiance by the mutt chiefs.
Lending support to the protest, a group of Naga Sadhus arrived in the pilgrim town and more are expected to join the protests against the drive near Jagannath temple, sources said.
Collector Balwant Singh said, since Bada Akhada Mahant Harinarayan Das expressed discontentment over some issues, the demolition has been stopped for the time being. If the need arises, more dialogues would be held with mahants and other stakeholders, he said and made it clear that the main seat of mutts where the deities are installed, Gaadi of mahant and the kitchen will remain intact. However, all other structures including business establishments located on the mutt premises will be demolished. “The administration would try to strengthen and beautify these while old unsafe structures would be demolished,” Singh added.
Demolition process would resume any time after addressing individual issues of mahants, the Collector said. Meanwhile, mahants of Bada Akhada, Sana Chhata and Mangu mutt have vacated their buildings while commercial shops have shifted their stock.
In a separate development, a 15-member delegation of Puri residents, led by BJP MLA Jayant Kumar Sarangi met the Collector. They held discussions on issues such as displacement of families from 75-metre radius of Meghanad Prachir and demanded that a blueprint of the plan be made public.
They also demanded that compensation should be paid as per land acquisition laws and until then demolition should be stopped.
Some members threatened to meet the Chief Minister if their demands were not fulfilled.
However, the MLA said the meeting was a success as Collector agreed to hold discussions with all the stakeholders afresh before demolition resumed.