Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Friday presented before Prime Minister Narendra Modi a blueprint on restoration of the temple town of Varanasi as part of a new scheme for development of heritage cities.
Sources in the UD Ministry said the Prime Minister was keen to have a look on the development plan that has been prepared by the Ministry ahead of his visit to Kyoto in Japan, a world class city of the kind that Narendra Modi wants to replicate in Varanasi with the help of latest technology. Naidu and UD Secretary Shankar Aggarwal were present for the presentation.
The new UD Ministry scheme is aimed at the preservation and revitalisation of India’s rich heritage. It also seeks to enhance the quality of urban life in such cities apart from improving their physical, social and economic structures, said sources close to the Minister. The holy towns of Mathura, Gaya, Ajmer, Amritsar, Kanchipuram and Velankanni will also be covered under the new scheme, they added.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in his 2014-15 Budget, proposed to set up an Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission called “Namami Gange” and allocated Rs2,037 crore for it. The benefits from this mission will also flow to Varanasi. Jaitley allocated Rs100 crore for the development of the ghats (steps leading down to a river) in Varanasi, Kedarnath, Haridwar, Kanpur, Allahabad, Patna and New Delhi.
Modi who is an MP from Varanasi constituency had directed that the development plan should envisage ways to find a firm position for Varanasi on the global tourist map. The first-stage makeover will include beautification and efforts to ensure cleanliness and streamlined traffic, said the officials in the Ministry. Modernisation of the ghats with special attention to those at Dashaswamedh, deploying motorboats in the Ganga and ensuring a greener Varanasi are the other highlights of the plan, sources said.