Union Minister of Culture and Tourism Prahlad Singh Patel on Monday announced the withdrawal of the draft Heritage bylaws for Shri Jagannath Temple, Odisha, issued by National Monuments Authority (NMA).
The announcement came after delegations of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Biju Janata Dal met Mr. Patel in New Delhi separately demanding its withdrawal.
“Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Pratap Sarangi and BJP Members of Parliament met and informed me about draft notification which was issued without knowledge NMA chairman. This is withdrawn immediately,” said the Minister in a tweet.
The NMA, Union Ministry of Culture, recently came up with heritage bylaws for Shri Jagannath Temple, Odisha, which proposed to restrict constructions which did not confirm with heritage zone conditions.
“No construction or re-construction of any building, within a radius of 100 metres, or such other higher distance from any archaeological site, as may be decided by the Archaeological Survey of India and Orissa State Archaeology Department from time to time, from the outer boundary of a declared protected monument shall be permitted,” the draft bylaws stated.
It added that no construction above the first floor and above 7 (seven) metres shall be allowed beyond a radius of 100 metres and within a radius of 300 metres.
The State government considered that the bye-laws would have hampered the grand infrastructure development planned around 12th-century Shri Jagannath Temple in Puri.
Earlier on Monday, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had toughened his stand on the bylaws insisting on its complete withdrawal.
Mr. Naveen Patnaik, who visited the temple to offer prayers for the first time after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country, said on Monday “the Central government must remove these new bylaws. Nobody can stop the good work of Lord Jagannath.”
“I thank the people of Puri, who have sacrificed their lands for development of Shree Mandir. The sacrifices will not go waste,” Mr. Patnaik pointed out.
Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), which manages the affairs of the Jagannath Temple, had formally lodged its objection with the NMA and sought withdrawal of the notification on Sunday.
“Large number of habitations (Sahis) which are more than a millennium old also exists around the temple. These habitations are of mainly Sevayat (traditional priest) families. As they are likely to be severely and adversely affected by any intervention of the authorities like this notification, they must be consulted before any process to restrict their rights is undertaken by the NMA,” SJTA chief Krishnan Kumar had written.
Stating that the State government recently acquired lands and properties for strengthening and security of the centuries-old shrine for the project of Shree Jagannath Heritage Corridor, he had pointed out any regulation which had the potential to restrict development of facilities and amenities on land voluntarily contributed by devotees of Lord would hurt their sentiments.
