Jagatsinghpur: Temple renovation delayed, displaced traders yet to be relocated

Jagatsinghpur: About 150 traders and vendors were evacuated due to Lord Balabhadra Daru located around Maa Sarala temple at Tirtol in 2015. The temple beautification drive started in 2022 and a few other shop owners were displaced.

But even after eight years, neither the shop owners have been relocated nor the beautification work of the temple has been completed.

The unauthorised shops around the temple were first razed during Daru location bid in 2015. Later, under a beautification proposal, temple store room, kitchen and a few abandoned and dilapidated rooms attached to the temple were demolished in November 2022. But construction and renovation of these rooms are yet to be completed.

Construction materials have been dumped around the temple causing inconvenience to visitors and devotees, said senior servitor of temple Ramakanta Raula.

In a bid to make Odisha temples beautiful, spacious and tourist-friendly, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had announced a special package of Rs 42 crore in the first phase for the development of Maa Sarala temple at Tirtol in Jagatsinghpur district.

The temple and its peripheral development had been taken up under the 5T integrated development of heritage and monuments and tourist destination programme. The project was scheduled to be completed within one year.

Under this project, all sub-shrines on the temple premises will be developed. A bronze idol of Adikabi Sarala Das will be installed in the temple compound adjacent to Nanda Deula. The 72 shop owners and vendors, who have been displaced due to the temple beautification drive, will be provided shops in the newly built market complex.

”During Daru location at Sarala temple premises, we had shut our business, our makeshift shops had been razed and the civil administration had promised to provide us shops in the market complex. After eight years, we are left in the lurch,” said displaced businessman Trilochan Raula.

The evacuated people had petitioned 5T Secretary V K Pandian during his visit to Sarala temple on June 30. They reiterated their claim to provide shops in the market complex which stands incomplete. The market complex construction is at its last phase and will be completed within a month. The temple beautification work may not be completed within the stipulated time, officials said.