Bhubaneswar: The administration's dilly-dallying on the uniform heritage signage project for Old Town took a turn for the worse after it cancelled the tender for the project for the second time.

The project was initiated last December when the Bhubaneswar Development Authority's heritage wing submitted a report for new signages. The plan was to replace old and dilapidated signs for monuments at Old Town with new uniform heritage signage.

IT had also prepared a design reflecting Kalingan architectural style. Four signages for direction, information, location and map were planned and the civic body was to take up installation.

While officials claimed the tender was cancelled to incorporate more details into the project paper, civic body insiders said it was a face-saving measure after few takers showed interest. The civic body had floated the original tender in October, but cancelled it earlier this month.

"There were some flaws in the technical specifications of the tender papers for which we cancelled the tender. We will incorporate the required details and issue a fresh tender. It is an ambitious project and would add to the city's beauty," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.

Old Town monuments have general signage with only the name. Some of these are in a bad shape. Location maps were installed at several places, but again it provides lesser information to the tourists.

"The boards only have the names of the monuments, but we need more information. There should be information about their inception and history. Such signages will give us an insight into the structures, which is necessary for outsiders like us," said Prativa Benerjee, a tourist to Lingaraj Temple from Calcutta.