CUTTACK: The advance of the Mahanadi following the devastating floods last month is all set to displace the venue of historic Balijatra this year. With the river swallowing a large chunk of the main fair ground, the district administration has been forced to look for new space. The river has advanced by over 100 metres towards the embankment near Gadgadia Ghat. The dry river bed on the ghat, spread over 37 acre, has been used as the main fair ground of Balijatra. But with the incursion being severe, efforts are on to expand the fair grounds horizontally along the Ring Road embankment. The fair is scheduled for November 10-16. The existing space for parking of vehicles near the main entry gate would be utilised for accommodating stalls. The parking lots would be shifted by more than 300 ft from their existing location. A new landing road from the Ring Road embankment would be constructed to enable people access the sites. Salvaging of the land, hitherto used as parking lots, would create one lakh sq ft space which would accommodate the much sought-after Filigree Pavilion with over 100 stalls and new participants. According to sources, the site for the Gandhi Shilpa Bazaar National Exhibition of Handicrafts and Pallishree Mela Exhibition of handloom, handcrafts, traditional wares and ethnic products of ORMAS has been severely hit by the river incursion. The bed, on which they stood, has been eroded by around 25 per cent. They would have to be shifted. While a high-level administrative team, including Collector Girish SN and Sub-Collector JP Das along with officers of departments concerned, made an on-the-spot assessment on Monday, salvaging land for the fair may face the challenge of clearing the huge silt dumped on it. Over two lakh cubic metre of silt, excavated from the Barabati Fort moat, had been dumped on the river bed along the fair ground and Ring Road embankment in July. The issue created a furore and after intervention of the High Court, the CMC had stepped in to undertake the job of clearing the silt with the costs to be recovered from the errant contractors. However, the administration has conceded that it would be a tough task. “We are racing against time to get everything ready for smooth conduct of the Balijatra,” said Das. Executive Engineer, CMC, Ashok Parida said work was being done on a war-footing to clear the silt and level the land, both at the main fair ground and at the new spaces. “They would be ready in time,” he exuded confidence.
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