Bhubaneswar: The Secretary to Chief Minister and 5T, VK Pandian, Saturday visited Puri and reviewed the progress of development of Swargadwar. A target was set to complete the work by March end.
After the devastating cyclone Fani, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had announced his commitment to develop Puri as a world heritage city. As part of the 5T initiative, a slew of projects have started since then to give Puri its rightful place in the world tourism map.
Redevelopment of Swargadwar constitutes an important part of the initiative. Accordingly the work has been started with funding from Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF). The redevelopment work will be completed by March 2021.
As an interim measure, shed and other facilities are being provided to people visiting Swargadwar for cremation of their relatives.
He also took stock of the Gosala for stray cattle and rehabilitation of beggars. Stray cattle have been shifted to Gosalas to make the Badadanada clean. About 700 cattle have been shifted from Badadanda to Gosalas and another 400 will be shifted within one month. Funding for next five years for feed and maintenance has been tied up from CMRF.
Similarly, 500 beggars have been rescued from Badadanda and rehabilitated in various institutions. Out of the rescued, 150 have been traced and reunited with their families. Funding for this purpose is being met from the state government resources. Pandian also visited Banki river mouth and Puri blue flag beach.