BHUBANESWAR: DAYS after raising the issue of AMASR Act violation in the construction of Srimandir Heritage Corridor Project in the Lok Sabha, BJP MP from Bhubaneswar Aparajita Sarangi reiterated on Saturday that no NOC has been issued by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which is the custodian of the 12th century shrine at Puri.
The Bhubaneswar MP reasserted that no construction work can be taken up within 100 metres of a protected monument as per the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act and permission from ASI is a must to carry out any work in the prohibited area.
Her statement came after BJD MP from Puri Pinaki Misra stated that those criticising the project are of crab mentality. “They won’t do anything, neither will they let others take up any development work,” he said while clarifying that he did not lie in Parliament over the issue.
The National Monument Authority (NMA) had issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) to the State government for the construction of a cloakroom, mini cloakroom, shelters, and toilets on September 4 within the prohibited 75 metre zone, he added.
Misra said that he could not inform the House on Thursday about all these projects which are being taken up because of time constraints.
Reacting to the statement of Misra, Sarangi said that the paper which was shown to the media in support of the project is a letter by the NMA and not a NOC.
“The format of NOC is different and it will contain a plan, elevation and several other details,” she added.
Aparajita said that as the issue was already discussed in the Lok Sabha, it was unwarranted on the part of Misra to raise the subject again.
On March 31, she had raised the issue of violation of AMASR Act in the implementation of the ambitious project in the Lok Sabha and demanded that the digging work should immediately be stopped to ensure the structural safety of the shrine.