PATNA: The Centre's ambitious National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana, better known as
HRIDAY scheme, has failed to bring any tangible change in Gaya.
The HRIDAY scheme was launched by the Union urban development and housing ministry in January 2015 to ensure holistic development of 12 heritage cities of the country.
Gaya was the only city from Bihar to benefit from it besides Ajmer, Amravati, Amritsar, Badami, Dwarka, Kanchipuram, Mathura, Puri, Varanasi, Velankanni and Warangal.
Of the Rs 500 crore sanctioned for the scheme, according to official sources, Gaya's share was Rs 34.69 crore. Of it, a sum of Rs 12.7 crore has been released in instalments so far.
The four projects approved for Gaya included development of Brahmsat and Vaitarni Sarovar, development of Vishnupad Temple complex, development of Akshayvat Complex and construction of a pathway to connect Durgeshwari Hill to Mahabodi Temple.
The projects involving the development of Vishnupad Temple complex and the construction of hill pathway have already failed to meet their November 2017 deadline.
Bihar urban development and housing department (UDHD) sources said they could not get contractors for the two projects even though they floated tenders several times. The tender has been floated for the fifth time and the technical bid will be opened on December 18.
The bidding process for the other two projects was completed in November and the work is in initial phase.
A Gaya civic body official, however, admitted that the projects were delayed due to "technical glitches". "The executive engineer of the urban local body concerned is mandated under the scheme to execute the projects. In Bihar, however, an executive engineer has the power to execute projects worth only up to Rs 25 lakh and has to take the administrative and technical approvals from the state UDHD for the projects worth more than that," he said and added months elapsed before this issue was resolved recently.
The deadline for the completion of the projects involving Brahmsat and Vaitarni Sarovar is October next year and that of the one involving Akshayvat Complex is March 2018. The deadlines are unlikely to be met as the contractors have sort of thrown in the towel and written to the Gaya Municipal Corporation about the non-availability of sand and stone chips in the state.
Gaya has also been selected under the centrally sponsored National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive, known as PRASAD scheme. Gaya was sanctioned Rs 4.29 crore under this scheme for developing basic facilities at the Vishnupad Temple.
The district was also selected to be covered under the Centre's Swadesh Darshan scheme, which envisaged creating jobs and boosting economy through religious tourism. A sum of Rs 33.17 crore was sanctioned under this scheme for Gaya and, according to the government's website, a sum of Rs 6.63 crore has already been released.
Flood of these funds notwithstanding, Gaya remains Gaya, its old self.
