The state government's proposed "heritage walk" project in Bhubaneswar is hanging fire, even as a symbolic heritage walk is slated on the occasion of World Heritage Day on Wednesday.

During last year's World Heritage Day celebrations, the tourism and culture department had announced to take tourists on a designated trail to explore temples and heritage sites in the Old Town area of the city. 

As per a TOI report, the state-run Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) has identified two walk corridors (2.5 km each), consisting of a few tourist destinations. But the project is still stuck in limbo, for reasons best known to the authorities. "The tourism department is still exploring the feasibility of the project. The trail was finalised and sent to the department for the final nod," an OTDC officer said. The tourism department had planned to start the walk tour around historical monuments in Old Town every second Saturday.

Ekamra Van, Vaital shrine, Papanasini temple, Lingaraj temple, Devipadahara tank, Rajarani temple, Mukteswar, Parasuameswara, Swarnajaleswar, Kotitirtheswar and Ananta Basudev temple are some of the sites identified for the project. The project was aimed at promoting religious tourism in Bhubaneswar. "Many lesser known temples and monuments are lying unexplored. It was just an attempt to promote them," the officer said.

OTDC vehicles were supposed to take tourists to the originating point of the walk corridor. There was a proposal to collect Rs 50 from each tourist for the two-hour walk. Guide service was also proposed for the tourists. "It was a good proposal to promote our heritage sites. Sadly, the government agency has sabotaged it. Where was the problem in executing the project?" questioned Gopal Makadam, a priest of Lingaraj temple.

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