Post News Network
Puri, Sept 4: The periphery development project near the world famous Sun temple at Konark in the district here was to see the light of the day more than one and half years ago but is nowhere near completion due to several roadblocks in carrying out the project.
Now, the Puri-Konark Development Authority (PKDA) has given fresh approval to a blueprint for the development project.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the PKDA building plan committee held under the chairmanship of the district collector-cum-vice-chairperson of the agency recently.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the conservator of the Sun temple, had sought fresh PKDA approval for the project as no constriction was made for peripheral development near the world heritage site even after laying of foundation stone three years ago.
The Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) had proposed that the state government launch a periphery development project near the Sun temple in 2007. A meeting chaired by the then chief secretary of the state had finalised a detail plan for the project.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had reviewed the project plan April 20, 2011 and directed the revenue divisional commissioner (central) to look into land acquisition and other works for the project’s implementation.
The RDC had subsequently constituted a three-member panel under the district sub-collector to evict encroachers around the temple.
The PKDA had given permission for the project June 13, 2011. However, laying of foundation stone for peripheral development near the Sun temple could not be carried out due to delay in demolishing illegal construction and the failure to evict encroachers.
Patnaik and the then Union petroleum minister Veerappa Moily had laid foundation of the project July 27, 2013 after the district administration handed over 9.39 acre land to ASI. The IOCL had announced that the company will spend `36 crore on the project while the ASI had agreed to allocate `5 crore for the same.
The ASI had decided to construct an interpretation centre, better road to the temple from the local bus stand and a parking lot under the project. Moreover, the central agency had planned to build a few lavatories and also to beautify the locality. The peripheral development work was supposed to be completed by February 2015.
However, the ASI is yet to begin construction work for peripheral development near the Sun temple. It has blamed slow land acquisition and other bottlenecks for delay in the starting the work.
