The city’s most watched heritage revival — the Ekamra project around Lingaraj Temple — has ground to a halt. Open pits, unfinished stretches and blocked lanes have left residents, shopkeepers and devotees exhausted, even as ministers, the local MLA and senior officials keep issuing the same instructions.
Works Minister Prithviraj Harichandan had told the media at the start of December 2025 that the main works would be finished by June this year. That deadline has come and gone. In several pockets, work has not even begun. Field progress is nowhere near what the public statement suggested.
Ekamra-Bhubaneswar MLA Babu Singh had blamed the earlier contractor for the slowdown and ordered a fresh tender within 15 days so work could restart quickly. BDA Vice-Chairman and BMC Commissioner Chanchal Rana reviewed the project at BDA headquarters in October 2025 and directed officials to finish remaining land acquisition and speed up execution. Those orders, residents say, have stayed on paper.
Coordination between officers and the agency on the ground is missing. Directions from the minister, the legislator and administrators are being ignored. Construction that started in parts of Old Town has stopped halfway. Dust, mud and road blockades now make daily movement a struggle. Local traders lose business. Pilgrims heading to Lingaraj Temple face the same chaos.
A local corporator told reporters that work is stuck because land has not been fully acquired. Remaining acquisition, the corporator added, has now begun and work should start soon. For people living and visiting the area, “soon” has been the refrain for months.
The project was meant to restore amenities and the monument landscape of historic Ekamra Kshetra. Instead, the zone around Lingaraj Temple and its neighbourhood has become a site of inconvenience. Citizens are now asking for at least temporary relief — clearer access, dust control and usable paths — until the larger work actually moves.
When the minister’s June timeline, the MLA’s 15-day tender order and the BDA review all fail to produce visible results, the question on the ground is simple: when does the Ekamra project start in earnest, and when does it finish?
