Even as Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar on Saturday reviewed the functioning of the State Government’s guesthouses in the country’s four metro cities, the guesthouse of the Odisha legislative Assembly (OlA) in Puri has since long turned into a den of miscreants as there is no one to prevent their entry.
In 2002, the Government had estimated `10 crore for construction of the guest house on an 8,000 square meter patch of land along the sea beach. Initially four suits were constructed at a cost of `39 lakh. The guest house has now a dining hall, a drawing room, a kitchen room and a store room surrounded by a compound wall.
The then Assembly Speaker Kishore Chandra Mohanty had inaugurated this guesthouse, constructed by the Works Department, in March 2009.
However, the OlA has taken little care to make it functional. It is yet to deploy a watchman or a security person to look after the property.
Taking advantage of it, miscreants of the nearby fishermen colony have made it their den. The GED engineers apprehending theft of valuables have kept the essential fittings and gadgets in their custody. With passing of six years now, the building’s paint and electrical fittings have been damaged. The water supply system is not in place.
When contacted, Puri PWD Executive Engineer Niroj Kumar Dash said, “We have handed over the building to the OlA before its inauguration. The OlA is looking after it now.”
Similarly, the GED Engineer said since the building is in close proximity to sea saline air, it needs to be renovated before use now.
The condition of the building is such that the administration did not accommodate Ministers, MlAs and other VVIPs in the guest house during the Nabakalebar ritual.