Puri: The Neelachal Urban Haat, set up by the state government to promote handicrafts, has failed to meet the desired goals.
Most of the stalls at the urban haat have been shut down for one cause or the other. Now, the haat has become an open pub for some local youths, sources said.
The state government had established the urban haat by spending around Rs 3 crore in 2009. It had constructed an open-air theatre and a musical fountain at the haat to attract tourists.
Former President Prativa Devi Singh Patil had inaugurated the posh market in the presence of then Governor of Odisha Muralidhar Chandrakanta Bhandare and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Patil had visited all the 36 stalls at the market and appreciated the handicraft products of the state.
However, the traders started shutting down their stalls within just two months of the inauguration of the market citing poor business prospect. The administration did not take any step to promote the urban haat and bring tourists to the stalls, sources said.
“As many as 34 stalls at the market have been shut down by the traders. The remaining two may face the same destiny. The musical fountain has been lying defunct. No cultural event has been organised at the open-air theatre for last several months. Some people are using the place to consume alcohol and other intoxicants,” said a local.
A few social activists from the city, meanwhile, urged the state government and the district administration to take immediate steps to revive the haat.
