Puri: The Government of Odisha has taken an ambitious step to transform the cultural city of Puri into a World Heritage City and has commenced the process in right earnest. For this the peripheral areas of the Shri Jagannath Temple need to be secured and developed. This will result in demolition of the age old structures and removal of some business establishments. But in order to bring in a transformation, there was a necessity to take action. It assumes significance after the security agencies of the country have issued warnings of threat to the Jagannath Temple many a times. The government has time and again assured all the stakeholders who are going to be affected by the demolition process that they will be compensated adequately and steps will be taken to rehabilitate them.
In this direction, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has taken the lead and has announced a package for the Security Zone affected people. The Package assures the affected people a realistic compensation and a practical approach to rehabilitation. This Package has provisions for compensation that are over and above the compensation as prescribed under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
Those who are affected by the process are given multiple choices for compensation and rehabilitation. For the residential units that are to be acquired in the process, the government has given options of one time compensation, relocation allowance, rental allowance and alternate rehabilitation. This has been done in order to give them a choice of decision. The package entitles the affected people to choose a constructed unit near to the temple complex or a bigger land plot according to their choice.
Likewise, for shopping establishments, Chief Minister’s package has given adequate options for the affected people. In addition to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 provisions, it gives them the freedom to choose from more than three options for resettlement and rehabilitation. Provisions have been made for relocation assistance, rental allowance, one time compensation and multiple choices for resettlement. The district collector is also authorized to negotiate with the affected people wherever necessary to hear their grievances and make adequate changes to the benefits to be given to the people. This step has been welcomed by almost all the business establishments that are going to be affected. The government also plans to construct a number of business complexes to accommodate them and help them restart their business. As a number of affected businesses have already been given temporary rehabilitation in the Jagannath Ballabha Market Complex, it has been widely appreciated. The administration seems to be sympathetic to the cause of the shopkeepers, taking into account their livelihood.
In order to make Puri a Heritage City and give the pilgrims world class facilities, the lodgings and hotels play an important role. The Package announced has taken the concerns of the lodgings adequately. The government wants to help them resettle on a happy note by giving them many options. The Package gives them compensation for the acquired land and the property. Small and big lodgings have been given adequate rehabilitation and resettlement assistance. A onetime relocation amount and the income support assistance will take care of the temporary loss incurred by the owners. The owners are ginev the choice of One time assistance and alternate plots for setting up of new property. Also, the government is going to give financial assistance for construction of new property. It will definitely help build new infrastructure and improve the income of the affected people in the future. Moreover, the street vendors who are going to be affected by the demolition drive will benefit greatly as the government wants to give them Rs 30,000 as one time compensation.
For conserving the cultural heritage of the City, the Collector of Puri, in consultation with the stakeholders, will decide the rehabilitation and resettlement scheme for the Mathas including allotment of land, preservation and conservation activities etc. The deities and Gadi in affected Mathas will be conserved and the Redevelopment plan of each of the Matha will indicate the usage of various components/parts/rooms and same shall be put to use accordingly. The redevelopment plan will focus on the heritage, architecture, complementary affiliation between Jagannath Temple and the concerned Matha.
The Package announced by the Chief Minister on the day of Ganesh Puja has been welcomed by many of the stakeholders. While the shopkeepers have hailed it as the best package that is definitely going to help them in the coming days, the residents have also welcomed the move. Most of them have said that they want to help the government in its ambition to make Puri a world City which will ultimately help them in the future. Also, the ever squeezing infrastructure will see a transformation once the area is cleared. As the district administration led by Collector Balwant Singh is directly coordinating the rehabilitation and resettlement process, each and every grievance will be looked into. The eviction and renovation process is being carried out with utmost care and the administration is careful to avoid any security lapse during the process. DIG Central Range Asish Singh is seen on the ground looking after the demolition drive of the dilapidated buildings.
Also, the State Government is constantly watching the development process. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik himself and his office are personally monitoring the process so that nobody is left out or dissatisfied with the development works. The development process is also seen in the context of implementation of the 5-T Mantra as Transformation and Timeliness are key to the initiatives.