Temple town of Ayodhya to be new pilgrimage centre, all set for major infra, development projects

Ayodhya: As the foundation laying work for the Ram Temple gets underway in this temple town and the footfall of devotees is all set to increase substantially, the state government is chalking out major development and infrastructure upgradation plans for a 65-km long ring road, a new 1200 acre township and a new airport.

Ayodhya District Magistrate Anuj Kumar Jha said the administration’s aim is to implement the development projects, broadening of roads and operationalising two new bus terminals before the new Ram Temple gets completed over the next 36 months or so.

Prior to the foundation laying stone by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August last year the footfall of 4 to 5,000 pilgrims per day has now gone up to 10 to 12,000 daily and the number would go up to a couple of lakhs everyday by the time the temple gets completed and to nearly 10 to 12 lakhs on certain festivals, Mr Jha said. He added that the administration was gearing up to provide all facilities to the people. He said the land for the new township spread over 1200 acres has been notified and nearly 60 per cent of the farmers in three villages have already given their consent for acquisition of their land.

In keeping with the need of the pilgrims and tourists, the government is planning to allot plots to socio-cultural institutions, inns, holiday homes, and hotels in the city which would throw open new opportunities of growth and development in the region, the District Magistrate said. He added that broadening of the Panch Kosi and 14-Kosi parikrama pathways was also on the cards.

He said that digital technology, using drones for survey, is being used not only in Ayodhya but in rural areas of all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh to carry out survey to implement the Swamitva Yojana (ownership of house scheme). The exercise, first since independence, aims to provide ownership to the real owners of the houses built in the rural areas. On the lines of land record or “Khatauni” the house record of “Ghaurani” will be prepared by using modern technology for mapping the villages and houses. Initially, a survey is being done in 20 villages of every district. The scheme is expected to put an end to land disputes in villages and also pave the way for owners to avail easy bank loans.

The records of agricultural land, Gram Sabha, barren land of the villages is already with the revenue department and for the ownership of the agricultural land, a ‘Khasra Khatuni’ is prepared. However, there is no documentary evidence of the ownership of the houses in villages. More than 9000 villages of the state will be covered under the scheme.

“The rural population will be immensely benefited ending all disputes that are going on for generations. An aerial survey of the populated rural areas will be conducted with the help of GPS drones and all the houses will be geo tagged,” informed Mr Jha. After disposing of all the objections, ownership of the house will be provided in the form of ownership card, he added.

Asked about the progress made so far on the foundation for the Ram Temple, the District Magistrate said that the new temple would rest on 1200 pillars and the strength-testing of the soil by the engineers was going on which would be completed soon and the design would be finalised thereafter. (UNI)