The Baldevjew temple in Kendrapara. Telegraph picture

Kendrapara, April 17: The neglected heritage sites across the state have put up a grim picture ahead of the World Heritage Day, which is going to be observed tomorrow. The move to illuminate the 300-year-old Baldevjew temple dating back to the reign of the Marahattas in Odisha has come a cropper.

A year after the high-power lighting system was installed as part of a beautification programme, darkness still pervades the medieval age temple. The lighting system has gone out of order. Lack of maintenance coupled with substandard quality of gadgets and tools has led to breakdown of the project.

“The high-power lighting system was put in place last year. It had functioned hardly for few months. Then it started blinking. Now, the whole system has turned dysfunctional. The servitors and devotees, who throng the premises in large numbers after the daybreak, are being greatly inconvenienced,” said Girish Chandra Kar, secretary of the Tulashi Khetra Unnayana Parishad, a body formed by local residents to save the temple.

The quality of installed lighting system was found wanting. As a result, it turned dead within a year. A special audit squad of the state government had found gross irregularities in high-power lighting system put in place in the Baldevjew temple. Tender-bidding process was grossly violated. The audit had suggested recovery of the amount spent for lighting system from the municipality personnel, who executed the programme.

As part of centre-funded heritage development grants, Rs 40 lakh was sanctioned to the Kendrapara municipality for infrastructure development of the temple. While the civic body spent Rs 10 lakh for improving the lighting system on the temple premises, equal amount was spent for building a public park near the temple complex.

About Rs 20 lakh more was spent for drainage system and frontal portion of the ‘Arun stambha’. However, skeptics tend to believe the precious grants were squandered and wasted as the construction quality of the projects was compromised by the then urban local body council.

“The municipal authorities are trying to restore the defunct lighting system in the temple. The lighting system has gone out of order. Non-maintenance besides poor quality of equipment has resulted in the breakdown,” said Dhirendra Kumar Sahu, chairman, Kendrapara municipality.

When asked on the lapses and irregularities detected by the audit report, Sahu said: “The findings of the report had suggested recovery of the grants from the municipality staff, who had supervised the project. The report has been forwarded to the state municipal administration for necessary action.”

To add to the woes of the heritage site, last week a stone block fell from the summit of the temple. The trustees of the temple had protested against the negligence towards the monument.

But, authorities at the state archaeological department had reasoned that conservation was being delayed because of paucity of funds whereas it has been more than a year that the 13th finance commission funds were available to the said department.