The Odisha government is all set to enforce heritage signage guideline for Ekamra Kshetra under which the old town of Bhubaneswar will have uniform signage for every shop and commercial establishment.
All establishments have been asked to put up the signage in one particular colour and design during the next one month.
“If any individual or commercial establishment fails to do so, strict action will be taken against them,” said a senior officer of the municipal corporation.
In the first phase, shops on both sides of the stretch between the Mausi Ma Square and the Badheibanka Square would have to implement the guideline.
As per the BMC sources, the old town has been declared as hoarding-free. All government and non-government establishments would have signboards having off-white colour base and terracotta red colour border.
“Orientation of shop owners has been carried out before issuance of notice. Door-to-door orientation and awareness have also been done. The border design has been derived from the Triratha style Kalingan temple architecture,” said the officer.
The State government has already drawn up a massive plan to give a facelift to the old town area surrounding the 11th-century Lingaraj Temple. The government has proposed to spend ₹700 crore for the re-development of the region. In this year’s budget, ₹150 crore was earmarked for bringing transformational changes in the areas surrounding the temple.
