With a focus on holistics development of the Millennium City, the Odisha Government has urged the Centre to include Cuttack in the National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY).
The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched the HRIDAY on January 21, 2015, which aims to preserve and revitalise the souls of heritage cities to reflect their unique characters by encouraging aesthetically appealing, accessible, informative and secured environment.
Odisha’s Puri has been included in the HRIDAY along with 11 other cities in the country and being implemented in Ajmer, Amaravati, Amritsar, Badami, Dwarka, Gaya, Kanchipuram, Mathura, Varanasi, Velankanni and Warangal.
Cuttack is much older than Kolkata and Varanasi and is known as Millennium City as well as Silver City due to its history of 1,000 years which offers glimpses of ancient forts and religious and cultural heritage of Odisha.
There are many monuments in Cuttack that loudly proclaim the past glory and importance of the city in the Odisha history. The remains of the Barabati Fort and the city’s several old structures from other faiths enrich its heritage glamour.
An unique fair, Bali Yatra, celebrated annually is the largest fair of Odisha. This fair hosts more than 2,000 stalls and shops put up by people from across the country and it is being held for years. It is celebrated to mark the day when ancient Odia mariners set sail to distant lands of Bali, Java, Sumatra, Borneo (all in Indonesia) and Sri lanka for trade and cultural expansion.
The HRIDAY supports development of core heritage infrastructure projects including revitalisation of urban infrastructure for areas around heritage assets approved by the Union Ministry of Culture and the State Governments.
These initiatives include development of water supply, sanitation, drainage, waste management, approach roads, footpaths, streetlights, tourist conveniences, electricity wiring, landscaping and other such citizen services.
In this backdrop, inclusion of Cuttack in the HRIDAY would go a long way as the programme would help the city promote its heritage and culture with such Central support, feel State Government officials.
While the State’s Department of Housing and Urban Development has urged the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to consider the proposal, officials in the State’s Chief Resident Commissioner, New Delhi are in constant touch with the Union Ministry for the purpose.
The HRIDAY is a Rs 500-crore scheme being implemented and is expected to be extended further as more and more heritage cities are interested to be included in it, said sources.