Dikhyaa Mohanty 
The Odisha government shelved Goa-like ‘beach shacks’ plan on Puri-Konark marine drive after a meeting with the Tourism Department and the government as informed by Puri Collector Samarth Verma.
According to the reports, Samarth Verma stated that Puri is being developed as a heritage city, anything that will have a negative impact on its spiritual significance will not be allowed.
Earlier government had proposed beach shacks at six beaches in the state, including a few in Puri, to attract more tourists. But the proposal faced problems due to several social outfits and the Shankaracharya, Swami Nischalananda Saraswati, demanding that it be scrapped in Puri.
They argued that the plan to boost tourism by serving liquor to tourists at the proposed beach shacks would spoil the spiritual significance of Puri and hurt the religious sentiments of people.
The report further added that representatives of 25 socio-cultural organisations of Puri submitted a memorandum to Collector Samarth Verma, opposing the beach shack concept at Puri. They, however, had no issues with it being implemented at other beaches in the state.
