Bhubaneswar, November 14: Members of the Forum of Regulators, the apex body of energy regulators across the country, went on a special heritage walk today in the Old Town area, under the umbrella of Ekamra Walks, the first guided heritage trail in the city.
The group was led by Chairman Odisha Energy Regulatory Commission (OERC) Upendra Nath Behera. The delegates were part of the 65th meeting of the Forum of Regulators, organised by OERC in the city, yesterday.
“We have got hundreds of beautiful temples across the Old Town area, which were built between 6th Century and 16th Century AD. To showcase the heritage wealth of the Old Town area, once known as Ekamra Kshetra, representing the unique archehitectural style and monuments, we planned this walk for the delegates of our national convention,’’ said the OERC Chairman.
“When the Ekamra Walks started in the Old Town area in 2016 I had joined the walks once on December 25 and was fascinated by listening to the stories of the monuments of the Ekamra Kshetra. When we planned this national meeting in the city, I thought this would be a great opportunity for the delegates to visit the heritage sites,’’ he added.
During the special heritage walk, the members of the Forum of Regulators visited Mukteswar, Siddheswar, Parasurameswar, Kotitirtheswar, Anantavasudev and Lingaraj temples and the holy lake Bindusagar. Today there were 30 participants from the Forum at the Ekamra Walks. Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) Member Enforcement Bhabani Shankar Chayani was also present during the special heritage walk in Old Town.
In fact, the delegates also took part in a similar special heritage walk on Monday at Udayagiri-Khandagiri Twin Hills, which is a famous Jain religious site. The trail, called Monks, Caves and Kings is about knowing the tales about the powerful Kalinga emperors who, once ruled almost 40 percent territory across Indian sub-continent and the twin hills, dotted with rare inscriptions, caves and stone carvings tell about them with vivid details. During the first walk on November 12 there were 50 members of the Forum.
The delegates like both the walks and praised the authorities of BDA, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, Odisha Tourism for the nice initiative. They also praised the efforts of DeTour Odisha for their work to promote city’s heritage sites through the walks.
It can be mentioned here that the Forum of Regulators (FOR) was constituted on February, 16, 2005, in pursuance of the provision under Section 166(2) of the Electricity Act, 2003. The Forum consists of Chairperson of Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) and Chairpersons of State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs). The Chairperson of CERC is the Chairperson of the Forum.
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