The British cemetery near Potagada in Ganjam. Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy

Berhampur, Nov. 18: Work to renovate Ganjam’s British cemetery under the World Bank-assisted Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project is moving at a snail’s pace.

In 2012, the government had decided to repair and preserve the site to promote it as a tourist spot.

This is the oldest cemetery of the British administrators and consists of tombstones with spire-like monuments. It is in a bad state of preservation and needs conservation.

“The tombs belong to Englishmen who died during three resistance movements by the rulers of Ghumsur (Bhanjanagar), Mahru (Berhampur) and Paralakhemundi states,” said Prahalad Panda, a retired professor of Berhampur University.

Some of the captains and majors who were killed were buried at the cemetery near Potagada and Sorada in Ganjam district.

The French, under the leadership of general De Bussy, was the first among the Europeans to establish a factory at Ganjam in 1757.

The British East India Company took possession of Ganjam in 1766 under the leadership of Edward Cotsford.

The British army fought battles against Krushna Bhanja in Ghumsur, Narayan Narendra in Mahuri and Narayan Gajapati in Paralakhemundi. The Ghumsur resistant movement, which started from 1753 and continued till 1866, witnessed battles with the British by five Bhanja kings in seven stages, Panda said.

World Bank has approved Rs 9.81 lakh for the renovation of this heritage site and Rs 35.75 lakh for its peripheral development.

“We are carrying out the work under the 13th Finance Commission award from 2011-12 to 2014-15,” said Anil Kerketa, district culture officer of Ganjam.

“The cemetery had no gate, the boundary wall was damaged at some places and the horse head of a spire was damaged. We built the front gate, whitewashed the spire, constructed the damaged portions of the boundary wall and cleaned the grounds of the cemetery twice during the visit of World Bank teams,” the district culture officer said.

However, local residents said the compound lacked basic amenities.

“No one from Britain has come to the cemetery searching for their ancestors’ graves. The approach road from the national highway to the site through Barapalli village under Ganjam notified area council is very narrow. Measures must be taken for widening of the road to the site from NH-5 through Barapalli,” Upendra Pallei, resident of Barapalli, said.

“Tourism prospects of the site must be developed through community participation. But we are being overlooked,” said Prasanna Kumar Tarai of the same village.