Puri: Amid a raging controversy over the alleged sale of Bagala Dharmashala land in the Holy City here, the district administration Saturday claimed that it had not sold the shelter house land to anyone.
In a press statement, the administration claimed that it has only rehabilitated a few evicted Srimandir servitors and other individuals at the dharmashala land for the smooth implementation of the heritage corridor project around the 12th century shrine. The state government has approved a rehabilitation policy for the evicted locals.
“Bagala Dharmashala has 2 acre and 738 decimal land in Puri. A few evicted servitors and others have been rehabilitated on 12 per cent of the land of the shelter house,” said the press statement.
The administration said many Srimandir servitors and locals have donated their ancestral land to facilitate the heritage corridor project. It claimed that the landed properties of Bagala Dharmashala were earlier under the ownership of Lodging House Fund Committee but the properties were brought under the control of the revenue department recently.
“Bagala Dharmashala had the capacity to provide shelter facility to only 200 devotees. The state government is constructing a pilgrim centre at the dharmashala to provide shelter to at least 2,000 devotees from poor financial background,” said the administration.
The administration further claimed that the state government will make arrangements for accommodation of additional 8,000 devotees in Puri. “The state government has planned to provide shelter facility to around 10,000 poor devotees in the Holy City,” it added.
