Puri temples’ damage pegged at Rs 5.1 cr

PURI: Damage  to Shri Jagannath Temple and Gundicha Mandir at Puri is estimated at `5.1 crore.  Most of the loss accrues from damage to civil infrastructure and electrical equipment.Chief Administrator of Shri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) PK Mohapatra on Tuesday said Fani has not caused any major structural damage to the Shri Mandir. 

The lion statue on west side of the temple and one of the subsidiary deities of Singha Dwara (Lion’s gate) have been damaged in the cyclone. The ASI will replace the two damaged statues with new ones, he said.
The temple rituals have also remained unaffected as all the ‘nitis’ have been conducted on regular basis without any disruption despite the cyclone affecting the lives of the sevayats. 

As per assessment, civil infrastructure worth `3.82 crore and electrical equipment and accessories worth `1.24 crore have been damaged in the cyclone which hit the coast on May 3. “Fani caused damage to civil infrastructure on the temple premises. Besides, electronics and electrical equipment of Jagamohan and Garbha Griha have also been damaged,” he said and added that the cyclone has also caused extensive damage to civil infrastructure at Gundicha temple and Matitota. Several rooms in Gundicha temple have been damaged.”

The SJTA chief administrator said damage report has been submitted to Law Department and Special Relief Commissioner Bishnupada Sethi. “We have requested the Government to set aside funds at the earliest to take up the restoration work on a war footing and complete it before Rath Yatra on July 4,” he said. Chariot building for Rath Yatra began today marking Akshaya Tritiya and will continue smoothly, he informed.