Prime Minister Narendra Modi will perform ‘bhumi pujan’ for the ambitious Kashi Vishwanath Temple (KVT) expansion (corridor) project on March 8.
During his about three-hour stay in the city, Modi will also interact with women beneficiaries of various government schemes at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Trade Facilitation Centre in Lalpur area.
Talking to TOI on Monday, district magistrate Surendra Singh confirmed that initial intimation regarding PM’s visit on March 8 has been received. As per the itinerary, the will reach the city around 9.30 am and stay for more than two and half-hour, he said.
Regarding preparations for ‘bhumi pujan’ of KV expansion (corridor) project, KVT chief executive officer Vishal Singh said, “In view of the possibility of the PM performing bhumi pujan of the project, we have already geared up preparations.”
“A total of 296 buildings had been identified to purchase for the project and 235 have already been purchased. Most of these buildings had been demolished while process for removal of the debris is underway,” he added.
According to KVT authorities, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had set a target of clearing 70% land before holding bhumi pujan of the project. Singh said that this target had been achieved.
“With the finalization of modal of proposed expansion (corridor) project, the company assigned to prepare its detailed project report has also accelerated the work. DPR is expected to be completed by March end with proper documentation and estimation of actual cost of the project. After it DPR will be sent to state government for its final approval,” said the CEO.
Yogi government had approved the project in December 2017 and sanctioned a budget of Rs 600 crores for it.
The CEO said, “Of the initially sanctioned budget, the state government had allocated Rs 290 crores to the temple administration, which was spent on purchasing the identified buildings. In January the temple administration had forwarded a tentative budget of Rs 391 crores for further work to the state government through the department of religious affairs and in the state’s annual budget the state government made a provision of Rs 207 crores for it.”
Apart from performing the ‘bhumi pujan’, the PM will also visit DDU-TFC to address the women beneficiaries of government schemes especially those operating self-help groups and national rural livelihood mission (NRLM), said temple officials.
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