Tourism boost for Ayodhya! UP Cabinet approves bus station and airport road expansion projects

The construction of this bus station project will facilitate pilgrims and tourists.

For tourists visiting Ayodhya, the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet has decided to build a world-class bus station at a cost of Rs 400 crore. Besides, the Cabinet has also decided to expand the road leading to the proposed international airport near the temple town. UP Cabinet Minister and spokesperson for the government, Sidhartha Nath Singh was quoted in an IE report saying that as preparations are being done for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the focus is especially on transportation facilities. Land of about nine acres is available with the Department of Culture and would be transferred to the Department of Transport free of cost to construct the bus station. It might be developed on a PPP model at Ayodhya Dham, near the “Sanskriti Manch” that is currently under construction, Singh said.

According to the minister, the construction of this bus station project will facilitate pilgrims and tourists. It will connect visitors coming from different places, including different parts of the state, as well as provide better connectivity to other parts of UP such as Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Ballia, Lucknow, Azamgarh, Kanpur, etc, he added. Besides, the UP Cabinet has also relaxed norms to expand nearly 1.5 kilometres of the road connecting the temple town to the proposed international airport. The expanded road will be a four-lane road that will be able to sustain a minimum of 18,000 cars. The project will cost an amount of Rs 20 crore and the land required for this infra project was available with the education department, Singh said.

Meanwhile, a proposal to set up Development Authorities in places such as Gorakhpur, Ayodhya, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Agra has also been approved by the Cabinet to speedily improve tourism infrastructure facilities. The construction of a 120-MLD sewage treatment plant at the Lucknow’s Ghaziudeen Haider Canal has also been approved to help clean the Gomti river, said the minister. It will be developed as part of the central government’s AMRUT scheme and is estimated to cost Rs 297.38 crore. While the Centre will pay an amount of Rs 88 crore of the project’s estimated cost, the state government’s share will be around Rs 129 crore. Around Rs 79 crore will be spent by the local civic body.

The Cabinet also cleared projects for Prayagraj worth Rs 284 crore, including the construction of a railway overbridge-cum-flyover. The four-lane overbridge will be constructed near Subedarganj station, while another two-lane flyover will be developed on the road leading from Chaifkata to Kanpur, the report added.