Draft Heritage Bylaws:
The Centre has withdrawn the draft heritage bylaws issued by the National Monuments Authority (NMA) for Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri, Odisha.
- The Odisha Government is demanding the withdrawal of the bylaws for temples in the Ekamra Kshetra area of Bhubaneswar as well.
Draft Heritage Bylaws:
- The government in 2010 formed the National Monuments Authority under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2010.
- NMA’s primary role was to prepare heritage bylaws for the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) listed structures.
- Meaning: The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment and Validation) Act 2010 mandates that monument-specific heritage bylaws be prepared to regulate construction activity near ASI-protected monuments.
- The draft heritage bylaws need to be approved by Parliament.
- The State government considered that the bylaws would have hampered the grand infrastructure development planned around the 12th century Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri.
- Similar heritage bylaws have been drafted for two temples in Bhubaneswar – the 13th century Vaishnava temple of Ananta Basudev and Shiva temple of Brahmeswar, both in the Ekamra Kshetra area.
- In 2020, the state government planned a beautification project around the area spread across 1,126 acres and develop it into a major tourist attraction.
