Crumbling heritage monuments await conservation

KENDRAPARA: This coastal district has no dearth of heritage monuments, both temples and buildings. Yet, a majority of them is on the verge of extinction due to neglect of officials concerned. As per the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2010, any structure beyond 100 years can be declared a heritage monument. And accordingly, the 145-year Kendrapara High School,  125-year Fraser Girls’ School, 112-year Diamond Jubilee Public Library, 100-year-old Rajkanika Palace, 141-year Hukitola building, 135-year Jamboo building, the 176-year-old lighthouse in Batighar gram panchayat, 125-year-old sundial in Kendrapara town and the oldest 300-year-old Baldevjew temple are all part of the district’s rich heritage.  But neither of these monuments is protected nor cared for either by the government or the local administration. Most of the monuments have been heavily encroached upon. The wall and the main gate of Binodbihari temple is 400 years old. An eatery has come up near one of the two stone lion images  in front of the main entrance of the temple. Temple management officials said several proposals had been given to repair the ancient temple. “Unless the encroachments are removed and repair works  completed, the temple walls would crumble,” cautioned one of the priests of the temple. Kendrapara Municipal Chairman Dhiren Sahoo said they were monitoring the situation and action would be taken against encroachers soon. Likewise, a sundial dating back to the Raj era is wallowing in neglect. Built in 1887 to commemorate the golden jubilee of the reign of Queen Victoria, the sundial is lying abandoned and there has been hardly any effort to conserve this heritage piece. The ingenious Victorian structure has a pointer that casts shadow on a calibrated dial indicating the time.  “The historic sundial has been reduced to an object of neglect. In fact, few people are aware of it despite being in the heart of the town. Everybody thinks it’s just an ordinary concrete structure. There is no signpost that says the structure belongs to the British era,” said Basudev Das, a researcher of Kendrapara.  Das added that its features are disfigured and defaced. Even the civic body, which is supposed to take up its maintenance, is dumping garbage near it.  Even the 141-year-old sprawling Hukitola building, which carries the proof of excellent British architectural skill with rainwater harvesting system, is crumbling under the ravage of time. District Collector P K Pattnaik said the government had granted ` 50 lakh to renovate Hukitola.