After Chief Minister, Delegations of BJD and BJP MPs Urged Centre Withdraw Draft Byelaws on Puri Jagannath Temple
Bureau,Odishabarta
Bhubaneswar: After Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and delegations of BJD and BJP MPs urged the Centre to withdraw draft byelaws notification issued by National Monuments Authority (NMA) stopping any developmental work within 100-metre radius of Shree Jagannath temple in Puri, the notice was taken back on Monday.
Responding to the demand, NMA came out with a public notice, saying the draft heritage byelaws of Shree Jagannath temple and subsidiary shrines together with adjacent area comprised in survey plot 1, 2 and 3 district Puri has been withdrawn due to some technical glitches and the revised notice will be issued later.
Naveen, on a visit to the 12th century shrine in Puri in the morning, had urged the Centre to take back the communique. National Monuments Authority, which comes under Union Ministry of Culture, had issued the notification on January 18 last. It had published the draft heritage byelaws on its website nma.gov.in and invited suggestions and comments from the public till February 18.
With the communique sparking a strong resentment across the State, a delegation of BJP and BJD MPs had on Monday morning separately met Union Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel, who assured them that the order would be taken back. This is the first occasion when rivals BJP and BJD MPs mounted pressure on the Centre on a common issue of interest to Odisha. Their efforts resulted in withdrawal of the notification later in the day.
BJD MP from Puri Pinaki Misra welcomed the decision to annul the NMA notice. Servitors of Puri also welcomed the Centre’s prompt action.
“Nobody can stop the work of Lord Jagannath. The Central Government should withdraw the byelaws notification,” Naveen had told reporters in Puri earlier during the day on his maiden visit to the 12th century shrine after the restrictions imposed due to COVID-19 pandemic were removed.
The Chief Minister thanked the local people of Puri who have sacrificed their lands for the Shree Jagannath Heritage Corridor (SJHC) project for the beautification and enhancing security of the areas around the temple.
The State Government has been carrying out the development projects 75 metres from the Puri temple boundary wall for which the people have donated their land.
After meeting Patel in the national capital, Union Minister Pratap Sarangi said the Central Government has no such intention to put restrictions on the developmental works being carried out around the temple. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a devotee of Lord Jagannath and he would not allow anyone to create problem in Puri,” a BJP statement quoting Sarangi said.
Sarangi also said that the issuance of the NMA draft byelaw communiqué was a “bureaucratic error” which has been released “by mistake” and “it will be withdrawn soon.”
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