Villagers angry with razing of ashram

Bhubaneswar: The Kalki Ashram near Konark that once symbolized beauty and tranquillity now stands ravaged with government bulldozers smashing every brick to pieces and locals slamming the administration of ruining a grand property that could have been used for the public.
"It is a disaster the government has inflicted on the people on the pretext of removing encroachment.The entire ashram - multi-storey accommodation centre, a temple and a yagna mandap - was built with small donations collected from people, mostly villagers, over the years. I had vacated the land before the eviction drive. The ashram property could have been taken over by the government and used for the community, be it a government office, a forest guest house or a tourist lodge," said Bana Baba, who was in tears.
The Baba aka Banambar Maharana had left his house more than 15 years back and set up a small ashram in the casuarina forest under Balukhand sanctuary, barely six km from the Sun Temple. The ashram, thanks to its ambience and free prasad distributed to each visitor, slowly became the destination for countless villagers.
"I am a bachelor. I have no family to take over the property after my death. It was a barren land though inside the sanctuary. All ashrams and mutts across the country have been built on public land. I did not cheat anyone nor did I perform any miracle. It was like any other temple, built by the people," the Baba said questioning the rationale of the government in demolishing the structure.
Citing examples of the existence tourist guest houses and other structures in Similipal and Bhitarkanika sanctuaries, followers of the Baba said the Kalki Ashram could have been promoted as a tourist destination.
"If the state government can construct guest houses on forest land, why can't the structures at Kalki Ashram not be used for tourists? The Baba, who used to eke out a living by opening a small medicine store in his village, had managed to gather a lot of followers and construct the ashram," said Gaurang Pradhan, a follower.
A state government officer admitted it was a mistake to raze the beautiful ashram. "We regret, but the demolition order came from our seniors," said an officer.
Puri sub-collector Madhusudan Das said the administration initially had thought not to demolish the structure. "We were forced to pull down the structure after the Baba's followers forcibly occupied it when we vacated it last September," Das said. He kept mum when asked why the administration did not vacate them again instead of going for demolition.