Threat to Ancient Khandagiri Udayagiri Caves
Bhubaneswar: The overcrowding of shops and tourists on the small road between Khandagiri — Udayagiri possesses a threat to the thousand-year-old Jain caves.
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) attempted to tackle the issue by tearing down the shops at the foothills of these caves. The shop owners after waiting for a few days for the BMC to relocate them to a new space had again rebuilt their shops in the same area.
The secretary of the association of shop owners said, “We have been here for sixty years. Before me, my father and brother used to run the shop. Even after talking to the then tourism minister, Ashok Panda, we have still not been allocated any vending zones to put up our stalls.”
Another shop owner who has also been in the same area for over fifty years says that they had been told by the ASI to clear the area two years ago but since they have not been given any alternative space. “In 2014 when our shops were torn down, we had demanded the BMC for vending zone near Panthika”, he added.
The shop owners believe that uprooting from that area to any other might cause them to lose out on customers and negatively affect their income.
A free parking lot has been assigned by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) farther away from the caves for tourist buses and vehicles, which are not being used for the same purpose. The security guards looking after the empty parking lot said that the government plans to completely close the passage between the caves and use battery-operated eco-friendly carts to protect the structures from the harmful exhaust from vehicles. So far, no action has been taken on the plan. The ASI officials refuse to give out any information on the matter.
The caves and surrounding forest are home to several monkeys who are fed by tourists. What’s noteworthy is that these monkeys are very friendly and not harmful at all. The guards added that while their stay there, almost five monkeys have died, getting hit by speeding vehicles.
There needs to be a proper reallocation of space for parking and shops for the ease of both tourists and the local commuters.
