Puri administration’s decision to bulldoze 33 buildings opposed

Puri: Decision of the Puri district administration to raze 33 unsafe buildings in the pilgrim city ahead of the Rath Yatra this year was opposed by several groups on Wednesday.

The opposing groups said instead of taking steps to renovate historical buildings such as Manguli Matha and Annapurna Rangamancha near the Deba Snana Mandap, the district administration’s decision to bulldoze the buildings is not a right step. They also threatened to take legal recourse opposing the decision.

Annapurna Rangamancha joint secretary Ramakrushna Mohapatra stated, “Efforts will be made to pressurise the government in transforming the historical building into a museum after renovation.”

Meanwhile, Puri Sub collector Madhusudan Mishra said as cases in connection with some of the buildings are pending in courts, the administration is working on resolving the matter out of court.

The district administration on Wednesday issued demolition notice to 33 unsafe buildings on basis of joint inspection report submitted by the Works department engineers.