Situated on the bank of the river Gomati, the Baijnath Temple in Bageshwar, which gives a special identity to Uttarakhand due to its religious as well as historic importance, is going to be a bigger draw for devotees and tourists with a multipurpose artificial lake near the aforesaid temple compound going to be ready by early next year.
The artificial lake which is under construction for a long time is likely to be ready by March next year. It will serve many purposes once it is ready. This artificial lake will not only fulfill the aspirations of the local people in terms of drinking water and irrigation requirements, but also come in handy for the Government to develop this entire region as a modern tourism zone.
Since adventure tourism is steadily gaining momentum taking a departure from the traditional tourism activities, this artificial lake will also be used for boating purposes for adventurous tourists and visitors. More so, use of this artificial lake for fishery purpose will give another dimension to the attraction of this tourist destination.
The irrigation department is constructing this artificial lake which is expected to be ready by March 2014, said the department’s chief engineer DC Singh while talking to The Pioneer. This lake is being developed keeping in mind many factors. First, it will help meet drinking water needs of the region. Secondly, the water of this lake will also come in handy for irrigation purposes. Apart from these things, this artificial lake is also being used to develop fishery sector here, Singh added.
Completion of this artificial lake was delayed by about one year due to some clearance from the Archeological department. Now as everything is clear, so, hopefully this artificial lake would be ready by March next year, he hoped. Bageshwar has been one of the most sought-after tourist destinations of late, with thousands of foreign as well as domestic trekkers visiting this area to trek on the glaciers like Sunderdhunga and Pindari glaciers every year.
Tour operators here believe that since tourist destinations like Someshwar, Garur, Kaushani and the Baijnath temple have always been favourate tourist spots for the tourists in Uttarakhand’s Kumaon division, addition of the said artificial lake to the tourist map will definitely help attract more tourists in the times to come.
Visitors coming from Delhi side can easily approach the Baijnath Temple in Bageshwar via Haldwani, Almora through surface transport. However, as train service is available only upto Kathgodam, Nainital, so tourists travelling by train may have to depend on the road transport to reach the Baijnath Temple after the last rail junction, Kathgodam.
However, there is no dearth of lodging and boarding facilities at Baijnath, according to tour operators.