Debris at the proposed Gundicha Park site. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, June 23: The proposed Gundicha Park on the banks of Kathajodi river is in a limbo because of an impasse over removal of debris of religious structures demolished at the site of Gundicha Temple.

The revenue administration had planned the park for the city residents on the riverbank while undertaking demolition of the unauthorised religious structures, said Cuttack collector Girish S.N.

However, debris caused by demolition of religious structures, has remained scattered across two acres at the temple complex for more than a year now. The revenue administration had taken up demolition of 40 unauthorised religious structures on roads and land reserved for various public purposes and alongside riverbanks here last year while implementing an order of Orissa High Court.

The main structure of the Gundicha temple, a smaller shrine called Santoshi Maa Temple and a Ram Mandir was razed by the administration in May last year.

But as the Cuttack Municipal Corporation said it was not their responsibility to remove the rubble and the irrigation department is reluctant to foot a Rs 1-crore bill for the purpose, no one knows when the mess will be cleaned up.

In pursuance of a high court order, a committee under the chairmanship of the revenue divisional commissioner (central) was constituted to undertake the demolition operation. The municipal commissioner of Cuttack, vice-chairman of Cuttack Development Authority, collector and deputy police commissioner were included as members of the committee.

“Before undertaking the demolition, the committee had decided that removal of debris would be done by the departments on whose land the unauthorised religious structures had come up. Accordingly, we have removed debris of unauthorised religious structures on the land of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation,” municipal commissioner Gyanaranjan Das told The Telegraph today.

“But removal of the debris of Gundicha Temple complex is the responsibility of the irrigation department as the unauthorised structure had come up in their land,” Das added.

Official sources said the Mahanadi barrage division (Cuttack), which was expected to clear the debris, had submitted an estimate for the work to the irrigation department.

“We are not in a position to undertake the work as we have not received any approval or sanction of funds for it,” said an official of the Mahanadi barrage division on condition of anonymity.

“The committee recently took up the matter of removal of debris from the site. The irrigation department had apparently not taken a decision as an estimate of over Rs 1 crore had been drawn up for the removal job,” collector Girish told The Telegraph today. “So, the Gundicha Park project has been pushed back until removal of the debris from the site.”