Heritage sites may soon get back old sheen

VARANASI: The sites of religious, tourist and cultural importance may soon get their old glory back through a renovation and facelifting exercise. The regional tourism department has initiated a move to renovate, resurrect and restore all sites of tourist, both domestic and foreign, attraction.
“A number of projects to give fillip to tourism potential of the region are in the pipeline and they have been already placed before the Ministry of Tourism.Some of them have also got sanctioning and the work could start very soon for renovation and restoration of the sites. The projects cover a wide range of historically and religiously important sites apart from reviving the glory of local festivals in the region,” regional tourism officer (RTO) Dinesh Kumar told TOI.
As per reports of regional tourism department, the projects worth around Rs 51 crore have been put before the Tourism Ministry. They include renovation and restoration of old sites along with construction of concrete ghats on the embankments of the Ganga. As per the list, Sarnath, a pilgrimage for Buddhists, has attracted a project of Rs 17 cr that includes Rs 15 cr project for renovation of ancient Sarnath jheel (lake) and another Rs 2 crore project for renovation of the Deer Park. Ramnagar, another historical place linked to Raja of Banaras, is also on the list.
According to RTO, apart from these historical places, special emphasis on development of Panchkroshi route has been also laid under the ‘heritage development of Panchkroshi route’, a project worth Rs 6 crore. Similarly, development of ghats, including Markandeya Mahadev Ghat in Kaithi and Garwha Ghat below the Viswasundari Bridge, under project worth Rs five crore, are also in the pipeline. Out of them, Rs 3.34 cr has been already sanctioned and the work would start soon, he added.
While areas around Varanasi figure prominently on the list, efforts have been also been made to construct concrete ghat on the banks of Ganga in Mirzapur near the famous Vindhyavasini Temple in Vindhyachal area. “It was a long pending demand of natives in the region and considering the heavy turn out of devout at the temple, especially during Chaitra and Shardiya Navratra, it became imperative to send such a proposal. The project is worth Rs 5 crore and it also promises to give a facelift to the area,” added the RTO.
A separate project of Rs 70 lakh has been also proposed to revive the tradition of the Ganga Mahotsav, Buddha Mahotsav and Kajari Mahotsav (Mirzapur) that attract people from various regions. A special project worth Rs 4.5 cr is also in the pipeline for coming up with an state-of-the-art signage to depict sites of cultural, religious and historical significance to the visitors at strategic locations in the region. Besides, a project to develop around 200 metre area between extended Asi Ghat and Ravidas Ghat at a cost of Rs 6.19 cr is also likely to start.