Bhubaneswar, April 7: The Bhubaneswar Development Authority is considering a cluster development plan for each ancient site within its limits to ensure conservation of heritage monuments.
Historians have already expressed concern over the fate of Sisupalgarh, a 3,000-year-old fortified archaeological site of national importance, which they believe could reveal many missing links of Odisha’s ancient past with more excavations.
Sanghamitra Basu, associate professor of the department of architecture and regional planning at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, who was also a part of the team that drafted the comprehensive development plan of the BDA, told The Telegraph: “We had demarcated areas under the Sisupalgarh fort as a no-construction zone and it was the responsibility of the state government and the Archaeological Survey of India to safeguard the monument. There should be a heritage cell dedicated to the management of the historical sites in and around the city.’’
Speaking on the sidelines of the silver jubilee year celebrations of the state regional chapter of the Institute of Town Planners of India here yesterday, Basu said: “It is strange that people here are not aware of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act. Not a single complaint has so far been filed here regarding violation of the act. But in south India, complaints are regularly filed for violations of even for a single monument in the town.’’
Basu has extensively surveyed all the ancient monuments of Bhubaneswar. At present, she is also an executive member of the National Monuments Authority.
Sources said the AMASR Act was very stringent and if a person lodged complaints with the National Monuments Authority regarding an illegal construction, even a house loan issued by a bank could be cancelled. While there were less than 200 houses within the fort area in Sisupalgarh 15 years ago, many believe that the number has crossed 1,000 today. Without proper attention, the famous pillars of the site might also get encroached upon and eventually destroyed.
President of ITPI and former chief planner of the Government of India D.S. Meshram said: “The comprehensive development plan should have incorporated the different heritage zones in its master plan from the very beginning with specific plans for each zones. Formation of a heritage cell within the plan area should also have been a priority.”
Member of town and regional planning section of the BDA Pitabasa Sahoo said: “We are aware of the critical situation around the ancient monuments. As the zonal development plan or the micro-level planning (involving local infrastructure) has already started in many areas under the comprehensive development plan, the cluster development plan for each monument will be taken up keeping in mind the area within 250 metres of the monument.”
Explaining that the situation at Khandagiri-Udayagiri was different from Lingaraj temple or other sites such as Dhauli, Sahoo added that people would also be made aware of the importance of the monuments by erecting display boards in collaboration with the tourism department.
Director of town planning and former planning member of BDA Prashant Pattnaik said: “Conservation of ancient monuments will be a priority. But a heritage cell is to be formed by the municipal corporation only. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has already formed a cell to protect its heritage sites.”
In another development, the BDA is in touch with the state tourism department officials to develop a tourism circuit, which will connect two major destinations — Dhauli and Khandagiri — with better roads and other amenities. The circuit, when completed, will also reduce the travel time between Puri and Khandagiri.
