The development agenda on Ekamra Kshetra is on the anvil with a stipulated budget of more than Rs 700 crore. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had presented a 3D image of the plan for the information of the general public a week ago.
A combine enforcement team has started demolishing the illegally build structures, besides acquiring land on mutual agreement meant for the purpose. While the Ekamra Developmental Plan is getting readied to be placed in the World Heritage Map, the mischievous designs of land grabbers are putting a wet blanket on the mission.
It is an irony that when there has been a public outcry for demolition of the illegal structures in the celebrated Baital Tantrik Temple of worship built in 13th century, the uninterrupted illegal massive construction works on the land of Lord Lingaraj at Goutam Nagar meant for Lords ritual worship have gone to the hands of land mafias owing to the honeymoon between the Revenue and Endowment officers. Consequently, large scale massive illegal construction works by builders are going on unscrupulously and unabashedly throwing all rules to the winds.
A glaring example of the naked act of despotism is evident from the fact that while, Lord Lingaraj is record of rights holder of Plot No. 2545 in Gautam nagar area, the self styled owners are now some servitors of the temple who are shown as caretakers of the land by sheer manipulation. The land of Lord Lingaraj has been shown as the land belonging to the servitors by deceit and cunning and consequently it has been illegally sold to builders and private parties, there by bringing colossal loss.
The servitors those who are allotted with acres of landed properties are making a huge fortune for themselves by illegally selling the land and consequently displaying their lackadaisical attitude towards worship of the Lord by committing derelictions of their important and indispensable services to the Lord. Large scale discontentment is going on among the devotees and the general public as no exemplary actions are taken against those land mafias, encroachers and builders either by the Lingaraj Temple Trust Board or by the Endowment Department.
The sevayats of the Lingaraj Temple along with Ekamra Jana Jagarana Mancha wonder as to how the Lords land worth crores of rupees at Kapila Prasad, Rajarani and Gautam Nagar have been sold by a certain affluent section of servitors demanding that this land of the Lord be repatriated back to the ownership of Lingaraj. The forums have threatened wide spread agitation in days ahead if the Government stays silent.