Focus light used as part of Jagannath temple beautification project removed

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Secretary P K Jena has ordered the Puri district administration to inquire into the reported removal of various focus lights used as part of the Shree Jagannath temple beautification project, an official said on Saturday.

The issue was raised by devotees and local people after it was found that the focus lights installed near Shree Jagannath Temple in the pilgrim town of Puri went missing.

The lights were removed on the evening of the counting of election results and after the defeat of BJD in the polls.

The chief secretary instructed the Puri Collector to conduct an inquiry into this discontinuation of the focus lights used near the 12th-century shrine, the official said.

Jena has also asked the Puri collector to take appropriate action against persons involved in discontinuing the lighting arrangement.

Steps are also being taken to restore the lights at the earliest pending permanent solution to the problem, if any, at the government level.

Puri collector Siddharth Shankar Swain said that he has received instruction from the chief secretary regarding the removal of focus lights on the temple.

"We are taking appropriate steps. The event management company has removed the lights without informing the district administration," the collector said.

The local people have voiced strong resentment after the lights installed to focus on the Jagannath Temple were switched off for the last 2-3 days. Some lights were also reported taken away from the heritage corridor, plunging the entire area near the temple into darkness.