Ganjam: At a time when the country is celebrating its 74th Independence Day, people in Ganjam town feel dejected.
It is because, a house dates back to British era is to be pulled down to give space for widening of a road.
This historical house known as ‘Paragudi’ is one among other places carrying great historical importance.
‘Paragudi’ is a house and is located at a walking distance from Jayashree Chowk in Ganjam town. If one walks along the road from Jayashree Chowk, they will spot a lone house standing by the side of old national highway.
At the first look, the house may seem nondescript but it has been a mainstay in the area since colonial times.
According to some elderly denizens, in those days there were no means to send messages from one place to another. The kings and the officers of British government used to send messages with the help of trained pigeons.
This service has long been withdrawn with the introduction of postal services and other modes of communication. But the house then used to be enjoying a special place for being associated with this service has been reduced to a mere mute spectator.
The house used to host trained winged messengers. Which is why, it gets its name ‘Paragudi’, a combination of two words-‘para’ and ‘gudi’. ‘Para’ is an Odia word for pigeon.
As road widening work is underway, both sides of the road are being dug up. And this historically important house is going to be sacrificed at the altar of development. “Instead of pulling it down, it should be spared for history enthusiasts, students and researchers,” some observed.
When contacted, tehsildar Abani Kumar Sahu said resurrection and restoration of historical places is as important as development. “However, we will take a call in this regard after carrying out on the spot verification,” he said.
PNN