Bhubaneswar: Cracks on the Meghanada Pacheri of Puri Jagannath Temple have fuelled a political blame game with ruling BJP on Tuesday accusing BJD of not paying proper attention to the repair of cracks. BJP alleged that breaking mutts around the 12th century shrine for the Parikrama Project weakened its boundary wall. BJD shot back and asked if BJP members have the technical expertise to understand how the cracks took place.
“The Jagannath Temple is a symbol of pride. Now, with cracks emerging on the Meghanada Pacheri, millions of devotees are concerned. The former BJD govt is to be blamed for this,” said Anil Biswal, BJP spokesperson, while demanding an explanation from former chief minister Naveen Patnaik and his aide V K Pandian.
Biswal said the temple’s surroundings were excavated using machines without the approval of the archaeological department and the National Monument Authority, violating the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1958. Reacting to the allegations, BJD MLA Ganeswar Behera questioned if BJP leaders are technical experts. “Do BJP leaders have the technical expertise to comment on this? The govt that built the Parikrama Project to enhance the beauty of the Jagannath Temple cannot cause harm to the monument.
The BJP should think twice before bringing such baseless allegations.” We also published the following articles recently Odisha: Puri Jagannath Temple administration urges ASI to survey and repair cracks on Meghanada .
