Bhubaneswar/Bolangir: On the direction of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, a high level committee comprising Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra, 5T Secretary VK Pandian and Western Odisha Development Council (WODC) chairman Asit Kumar Tripathy Wednesday visited Nrusinghanath and Harishankar temples and discussed the beautification of the temples and their peripheral development.
These temples are important tourist destinations of Odisha and there is a tremendous potential to develop it as part of a major tourist circuit. This historic site is closely associated with the social, cultural and spiritual life of the region. Pilgrims and tourists from the state and beyond visit this place in large numbers, especially during important festivals.
In view of the importance and popularity of the temples, the Chief Minister wants a project to be taken up for the development and heritage conservation.
This transformational project will include beautification, pilgrim amenities, approach roads, tourist facilities, trekking routes, feasibility of ropeway, facilities for marriage halls and water conservation features, among others. Reputed professional teams will be assigned to prepare the master plan for the two temple areas.
The committee along with Water Resources Secretary Anu Garg and private secretary to Chief Minister R Vineel Krishna and other senior officials visited the Lower Suktel irrigation project at Magurbeda, Bolangir and reviewed its status.
Apart from engineering and proposed enhanced irrigational aspects, the committee also discussed about the land acquisition compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement issues of the affected people.
The panel directed that all issues should be resolved and the project execution expedited. District Collector Chanchal Rana, SP Kusalkar Nitin Dagudu and other senior officials accompanied the high level team during their visit.
PNN
