Puri hall row: Sambit Patra claims Puri MP lied about floor survey, BJD hits again 

By PTI

BHUBANESWAR: Wrangles over the Puri heritage hall appeared to accentuate on Sunday, with the opposition BJP accusing the Odisha authorities of not conducting due floor survey earlier than digging soil for the undertaking, subsequent to the Shree Jagannath Temple, and the ruling BJD rebuffing the allegation as a “false statement”.

BJP nationwide spokesperson Sambit Patra, hitting out at Puri MP Pinaki Mishra, said that Ground Penetrating Radar Survey (GPRS) was being carried out solely now, within the useless of the evening, a lot after the digging work commenced, opposite to what the parliamentarian had stated.

Patra, in a video clip posted on Twitter, stated, “The GPRS was not conducted before digging began. It was carried out over the past two days in the dead of the night. Media and locals residents have video-graphed a section of people carrying out the survey late in the night, when the entire pilgrim town was sleeping.”

Several media shops have additionally claimed that the survey was carried out at evening.

The BJD authorities undertaking, adjoining to the Twelfth-century shrine, bumped into hassle after a piece of politicians and specialists claimed that it may trigger hurt to the temple infrastructure, a risk that the Naveen Patnaik-led get together has dominated out.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), in its affidavit earlier than the Orissa High Court, not too long ago said that no floor penetration survey was performed to establish if there was something of archaeological and historic significance buried within the subsoil that lay at a radius of 75m from the monument, earlier than work on the undertaking commenced.

This aside, the ASI additionally stated that no heritage impression evaluation examine was performed, and there was a risk that the development work may need induced harm to the 800-year-old temple.

Three damaged lion sculptures have been discovered on the web site earlier within the week throughout an excavation work.

Mishra had not too long ago stated that the survey was duly performed earlier than the digging work started.

Patra, who unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Puri, stated, “Mishra has also misled Parliament by saying that only four toilets would be constructed in the protected zone of the 12th century shrine. The MP must answer why a team from IIT Gandhinagar was found busy conducting the GPR survey at the project site in the dead of the night.”

Noting that the excessive courtroom had requested the Odisha Bridge & Construction Corporation Limited, the executing company, to work in tandem with the ASI, the BJP chief sought to know the names of company officers who have been current throughout the late evening work.

Referring to Patra’s allegation, the ruling BJD spokesperson Sulata Deo, in a collection of tweets, he ought to cease politicising the matter.

“@sambitswaraj babu, the sevayats of Puri who have donated their land will not forgive you for obstructing the Puri project and regularly making false and misleading statements,” Deo wrote She additionally stated, “The National Monuments Authority had permitted the construction of a reception centre at a lower height, but since the Odisha government wanted it to be taller, they shifted it to regulated zone. Your false and misleading statements are hurting the Sevayats and the Jagannath premis (devotees) severely.”

Meanwhile, the shaknaracharya of Govardhan Peeth in Puri, Swami Nischalananda Saraswati, stated that he wasn’t conscious {that a} undertaking of such scale was being arrange within the city.

“I was not informed about the Puri Heritage Corridor Project. There is no point in converting the place of meditation into a tourist destination,” he added.