Know details of money spent by ASI on Odisha monuments

New Delhi: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has spent Rs 2.37 crore for conservation of Lord Jagannath temple in Puri in 2018-19. This was stated by Minister of State for Culture and Tourism Prahlad Singh Patel in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Replying to an unstarred question asked by BJP MPs Jual Oram and Nishikant Dubey on November 18, the Union Minister said in a written statement that the ASI had spent Rs 4.02 crore and Rs 6.07 crore on conservation of the Lord Jagannath temple in 2017-18 and 2016-17 respectively.

Patel further said the ASI had borne Rs 1.70 lakh and Rs 7.12 lakh on conservation work at Lord Lingaraj Temple in Bhubaneswar in 2018-19 and 2017-18 respectively. Rs 11.86 lakh were spent on the temple in 2016-17.

The ASI had invested Rs 1.52 crore and Rs 85.75 lakh on Sun Temple in Konark in 2018-19 and 2017-18, respectively, the Union Minister said. Rs 37.89 lakh were spent on the temple in 2016-17.

The Centre had spent Rs 5.9 crore on 80 monuments for conservation work in 2018-19, he added.

“Conservation work of protected monuments in different states in the country including Jharkhand and Odisha is attended regularly depending upon the need of repairs at different sites and availability of resources and they are in a good state of preservation,” the reply mentioned.