Puri: May 06; Protesting against the entry fee hike, members of Konark Suraksha Samiti (KSS) staged dharna in front of famous Sun Temple of Odisha. The Organisation working for preservation and conservation of the monument today called for a dawn-to-dusk bandh and locked the main gate protesting the reintroduction of the increased entry fee of the famous Sun temple.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had last month announced three-fold hike for domestic visitors and 100 per cent for foreign tourists for entry into the historic monuments of India including Konark temple.
District Administration assured the protestors to look into the matter and also had put the implementation of hike on hold for a month. As said by Protestors, administration did not discuss the matter further with ASI and reintroduced the entry fee hike i.e. Rs.30 for domestic visitors and Rs.500 for foreign visitors.
Konark Surakshya Samiti also alleged that the temple doesn’t have amenities like drinking water and all. Convenor of KSS said, ‘We will continue with the protest till the demands were met.’
The market at Konark was almost closed following the bandh call by KSS. Tourists have to suffer a lot due to bandh, because they can’t enter the World Heritage Monument.
