Decision to move reception center indicates rules being flouted: BJP 

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday hit out at the state government over its decision to move the reception centre under the Srimandir Parikrama Project beyond the prohibited zone of 100 metres. 

Tearing into the State government, the BJP MP from Bhubaneswar Aparajita Sarangi said the government’s decision to move the reception centre beyond 100 metres suggests they had earlier violated the Ancient Monuments and Archeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act, 1958. 

“At a time when the case was being heard in the Orissa High Court, why two petitioners went to the Supreme Court,” asked Sarangi. 

“At the time when land was being acquired and buildings were being razed, the government had stated that it distributed Rs 700 crore among the affected people as compensations. We demand the government should publish the names of the beneficiaries and the amounts they received on public domain,” the Parliamentarian demanded.   

At the same time, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, while addressing a press conference, said they had all along been demanding it that the construction works should have been according to the law. 

“The conclusion report of the Joint Inspection Committee formed by the High Court had caused worry as it clearly stated that construction works are being carried out by flouting rules. We had also demanded that the State government and the ASI should work in tandem, conduct GPRS and the State government should be careful enough so as to avoid any damage to our rich artifacts,” said Patra, adding they had also demanded for the State government to conduct a GPRS well in advance so that the ancient artifacts suffer no damage.