Low-cost lodge in Puri in two years: Odisha government

BHUBANESWAR: The state government has decided to construct a low-cost dharamsala to accommodate more than 3,000 tourists in Baselisahi, Puri.
The state cabinet, headed by chief minister Naveen Patnaik, on Tuesday approved the Rs 135.6-crore Baselisahi dharamsala project, which would be completed in two years.
The project will be a low-cost boarding and lodging facility for visitors, particularly senior citizens, coming to Puri. It is part of the ABADHA (Augmentation of Basic Amenities and Development of Heritage and Architecture) project, the chief minister’s office tweeted.
Sources said the accommodation project, the biggest in Puri, would come up on 10 acres of land, about 5 km from the Jagannath Temple and 2 km from the beach. “We are yet to finalise the design. The total number of floors, rooms and tariff would be finalised later. The lodge will have canteen facility, where the visitors can get food at affordable prices,” a works department official said.
Many poor pilgrims find it difficult to get rooms as per their budget. The problem has aggravated following the demolition of several mutts and lodges within 75-metre radius of the temple for the heritage corridor project. Earlier, pilgrims used to stay in the mutts by paying between Rs 200 and Rs 400 per day.
Puri town or municipality area has altogether 631 hotels, 13,755 rooms and 30,263 beds. Out of them, 367 hotels with 5,601 rooms and 11,944 beds are meant for low-spending groups (up to Rs 900 per day).
There are 140 hotels (3,255 rooms or 7157 beds) ranging between Rs 900 and 1,800 per day for middle spending groups and 124 hotels (4,899 rooms or 11,162 beds) above Rs 1,800 per day for the high-spending groups.
“We expect the completion of a low-cost hotel (Brundabati Niwas) for 1,900 ‘habisyalis’ near Narendra Kona soon. Apart from ‘habisyalias’ (mostly widows, who perform ‘habisa’ brat in the holy month of Kartika), other poor pilgrims can also stay,” a district official said.