PURI: A Puri court on Friday issued notices to Union Culture Secretary, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and National Monuments Authority (NMA) over alleged illegal construction works under the Shrimandir Parikrama project.
Hearing a petition filed by lawyers of Puri Bar Association seeking intervention of court, the Civil Judge (Senior Division) asked the three agencies to file their responses before June 26. Advocate Bibhuti Tripathy had filed a petition in the civil judge court stating that huge illegal construction is underway in the prohibited area of Shri Jagannath temple which is an ASI protected monument.
Earlier in the day, a four-member ASI team led by Superintending Archaeologist of Odisha Circle Arun Mallick visited the project site in presence of Chief Administrator of Shri Jagannath Temple Administration Vir Vikram Yadav.
Strategic spots were selected for installation of as many as 236 CCTV cameras in consultation with ASI officials. Later, Mallick apprised the Director General of ASI about the recent developments and recorded the work under progress using a drone camera.
Meanwhile, the project which has been under constant scanner has seen a fracture in the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.
While Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi and national spokesperson Sambit Patra have been vocal about the constructions in violation of existing archaeological norms, local BJP MLA Jayant Kumar Sarangi has adopted a different stand.
Talking to mediapersons on Thursday, he said the project work must not be politicised and the saffron party will lend support.
Stating that he is in favour of development work from the outset, Sarangi said after three decades, Puri is undergoing a massive transformation with development of basic amenities for residents as well as the devotees.
A number of projects like multi-storied building for thousands of Kartik brat observers have been completed while two mega market complexes are nearing completion. "We all want the Parikrama project to be completed soon. Our party has instructed to cooperate," he said.