A part of the sprawling premises of Puri’s lone government-owned lodge for pilgrims, the century-old Bagala Dharamsala, has been sold to six private hoteliers by the district administration, triggering protests by social activists and political parties.

The critics’ point is that the building and the land had been donated to the government 115 years ago to provide cheap accommodation to pilgrims, and so no portion of it can be sold to people who will use it to earn a profit.

What has deepened their anger is that the authorities demolished a part of the dharamsala in 2018 citing the need for renovation — and have now sold the part of the plot on which the demolished wing stood.

On Friday, Puri MLA Jayant Sarangi of the BJP and his supporters launched an agitation demanding cancellation of the sale deeds.

The Bagala Dharamsala charges just Rs 20 to Rs 100 a day for accommodation. Spread over 2.574 acres in Grand Road, about 300 metres from the Jagannath temple, the dharamsala could accommodate over 300 lodgers at a time before the 2018 demolition reduced its capacity.

A devotee, Seth Kanheyalal Bagala, had built it in 1904 to provide lodgings for poor pilgrims after buying the land from the then government in 1899. He donated the building and the land in 1905 to the Lodging House Fund Committee, a government body headed by the Puri collector.

Jagannath Bastia, a social activist and journalist, said he had late last year moved a public interest plea in Orissa High Court challenging the district administration’s decision to sell the land.

“The high court has issued a notice to the state government and the matter is sub judice. At this time, the land’s handover between August 5 and 12 to the six lodge owners is illegal,” he said.

The land sale comes at a time the administration has begun evicting about 100-odd lodges, shops and other establishments from near the temple to create a 75-metre-wide “security corridor” around the shrine. Lodges owned by the six land buyers are among those being evicted.

“The state cabinet decided on August 12 to allot alternative land in Mangalaghat mouza, about 3km from the temple, to the displaced people (traders and businessmen),” Bastia said. “But just ahead of the cabinet’s meeting, the Puri collector illegally handed over 340 decimal land from the Bagala Dharamsala’s premises to the owners of six of the displaced lodges.”

However, sources said the government had earmarked another 26 plots within the dharamsala premises for the displaced traders.

An advocate, Priyadarshan Patnaik, said the land sale went against the spirit of a Supreme Court directive to the state government last November, asking it to arrange affordable accommodation for 60,000 tourists in Puri. The directive came on a petition from a concerned citizen, Mrinalini Padhi. “Now, instead of taking steps to build more dharamsalas in Puri, land has been sold from the lone existing dharamsala to private parties,” Patnaik said.

“This is against the principles of law: the land was given as a gift to the collector for a particular purpose and cannot be transferred or used for any other purpose.”

Puri collector Balwant Singh told The Telegraph: “Our additional district magistrate, who is in charge of rehabilitation and resettlement, has already explained that the sale deed had the state government’s approval.”

He added: “Those who have made sacrifices for the beautification of the pilgrim town have been given land. I have no personal agenda in it.”