Bhubaneswar: Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan on Saturday informed the Odisha Assembly that Shree Jagannath Mahaprabhu Bije, Puri, owns a staggering 60,426.943 acres of land spread across 24 districts in the state.
Responding to a question by BJP MLA Durga Charan Tanti, the Minister Harichandan revealed that revised ownership records for 38,061.892 acres have already been received by the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration office. Additionally, the deity holds 395.252 acres of land in six states outside Odisha, he said.
The temple administration has identified 169.86167 acres of encroached land across seven districts in Odisha. To reclaim these illegally occupied properties, 974 cases have been filed in the respective Tehsildar courts under Section 16A(I) of the Shree Jagannath Temple Act, 1955, Harichandan said.
The state government has intensified efforts to protect the temple’s assets, with surveys being conducted by Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) officials to verify land records and remove illegal occupants, he added.
