Bhanjanagar: Rampant stone mining on Ukhudei hill under Belguntha block in Ganjam district has posed a serious threat to Ukhudei temple on the hilltop, as per sources.
The temple on Kanteipali-Badapada road houses a female deity and is highly revered by the residents. Thousands of devotees visit the shrine from far and wide every year.
The temple witnesses huge tourist footfall on ‘Sankranti’ of every month. The serene and picturesque surroundings of the hill and the temple also help in attracting the devotees to the place.
Locals alleged that the mindless stone quarrying is slowly denuding the hill. They demanded inclusion of the shrine in state sponsored eco-tourism project to save the temple and the ecology.
The Revenue department has leased out various parts of the hill for stone mining while illegal stone quarrying continues due to lack of effective monitoring and action on part of the revenue and police officials.
The stone mining is slowly denuding the hill and is emerging as a major threat to the shrine.
Reports said though scores of devotees visit the temple, the state government has not done enough for the development of the religious place except for constructing a community centre – Kalyan Mandap – in 2016 and sanctioning Rs 4,76,836 for the development of the temple and an adjoining park in last financial year.
Six months ago, devotees visiting the temple found the steps broken when they tried to climb it. The temple needs complete renovation as it does not have a permanent sanctum sanctorum, kitchen or even mandap.
The temple has no source of regular income of its own and is run on the money collected from the temple land which has been leased out for cultivation, Pankaj Nayak, temple priest said.
‘Utkal Kalakar Mahasangha’ secretary Sisir Kanta Das and residents Bhagaban Nayak, Babula Nayak, Surya Nayak, Karaj Swain and Jeetendra Behera have urged the state government to take steps to renovate the temple and stop stone mining on the hill.
PNN