CUTTACK: The Orissa high court on Friday directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to file an affidavit to counter allegations that constructions undertaken as part of the Puri heritage corridor project pose a threat to the structural safety of the 12th century Jagannath Temple.
The PIL was filed by Dilip Kumar Baral, a resident of Puri town, who in a PIL alleegd that constructions have been undertaken at a distance of 75 metres from the temple.
Appearing on Baral's behalf, advocate Anup Kumar Mohapatra said the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act prohibits any new construction within 100 metres of the shrine.
Following this, the two-judge bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice R K Pattanaik asked the assistant Solicitor General of India, Prasanna Kumar Parhi, who appeared on behalf of ASI, to take instructions on the apprehensions expressed by the petitioner and file an affidavit.
The bench expects the ASI, the custodian of the Puri temple, to file the affidavit at least three days before April 21, the date fixed for the next hearing on the matter.
It issued the direction after Advocate General A K Parija, appearing on behalf of the state government and the Shri Jagannath Temple Administration, stated that the National Monuments Authority (NMA) had issued a no-objection certificate for the said constructions. These include a cloak and a mini cloak room, a sevayat room, separate toilets for males and females, a shelter pavilion, pavement area, including place to stand in a queue outside the toilet or the sanctum sanctorum, etc.
The petitioner, on the other hand, sought the court's intervention on the basis of the reservations the ASI director general had reportedly expressed in the course of discussions with state government officials as well as the at ASI's field office during a visit to Puri on February 22.
