Puri: Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) Secretary G Mathi Vathanan will review projects being implemented in the Holy City under the Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) of the Central government November 7.
Sources said the review meeting will be held at state Secretariat in Bhubaneswar, said a communiqué from the H&UD department to the district collector Aravind Agarwal.
The Pilgrim City was included under the HRIDAY scheme of the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Development in June, 2015 for upgradation of tourism infrastructure. The Centre has planned to spend Rs 22 crore under the scheme and allocated Rs 7.44 crore in the first phase.
The administration had planned to take up altogether six projects by spending the sanctioned amount. It was decided to renovate several mutts, gardens and community centres under the plan.
Moreover, the administration had planned to beautify Musa River and set up a recreational park in Banki estuary area. However, most of these projects are in preliminary stage. The administration has so far spent Rs 2 crore from the sanctioned amount.
Expressing concern over tardy progress of the projects, Union H&UD Secretary Durgashankar Mishra had written to state chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi October 21 and asked him to review the implementation of HRIDAY in the Holy City. Mishra had told Padhi to complete all the projects by March 2018.
In a related development, a review meeting was held at the Secretariat Wednesday to expedite projects being implemented in the city under the Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) scheme of the Union Ministry of Tourism.
Participating in the review meet, Revenue Minister Maheswar Mohanty and Tourism and Culture Minister Ashok Panda had asked the authorities concerned to speed up project works.
The authorities had decided to renovate Bagala Dharmashala, do landscaping at Srigundicha temple and construct a multi-level parking in the city under the PRASAD scheme.
The Centre has allocated Rs 50 crore for the purpose, while the India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) has been made the nodal agency to implement PRASAD projects.
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