Delay in amenity centre’s inauguration irks tourists heading to Odisha

JAGATSINGHPUR: The newly constructed wayside amenity centre to provide tourists improved facilities during their transit journeys at Jaipur along Cuttack-Paradip State Highway (SH) is yet to be inaugurated.
Tourists alleged that while lakhs of rupees are being spent towards maintenance of the centre, electric charges, payment to security personnel and other expenditure since its completion in March, travellers visiting the coastal district of Jagatsinghpur are deprived of the facilities under the project.

While the Government had engaged a Mumbai-based agency for management of the centre for three years in December 2017, it has been decided to pay Rs 24.4 lakh per year to the agency for the service. Similarly, 14 persons, including one supervisor and five security guards, have been engaged for its maintenance. Though Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had given his consent to inaugurate the centre from the State Secretariat through a video conferencing, the date has not been finalised yet, sources said.

As per reports, out of 44 centres proposed for construction in various districts of the State, 37 are completed while others are on various stages of completion. The wayside amenity centre at Jaipur in the district has been set up with an estimated cost of Rs 1.8 crore by the State Government from its own budget and the project has been executed by the Works department.

The tourists, who are travelling on road, will get basic services like foods, snacks, toilet, rest room and parking stand among various others. The centre will have food plaza, ice-cream and cold drink parlours, OMFED parlour, rest shed, toilets, vehicle repairing shops, parking space, children park, ATM counter and cafeteria. The Government has named the centres ‘Biju Pathasraya’ after former chief minister Biju Patnaik.

Meanwhile, local BJP leaders criticised the Chief Minister for delaying inauguration of the facility and spending lakhs of rupees from the State exchequer unnecessarily.Contacted, Executive Engineer of Works Department Deepak Tripathy said except for food and catering, tender has been awarded to different agencies for its security, facility management and other services. The Government will soon open all the wayside amenity centres constructed at various locations along important stretches across the State, he added.