City receives Rs80 cr funds followed by Amritsar (Rs40 cr) of Rs500-crore scheme
Heritage city Varanasi, the Prime Minister’s parliamentary constituency, has got a major share of heritage pie of Rs80 crore followed by Amritsar (Rs40 crore) of the Rs500-crore Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) project to be inaugurated by Narendra Modi on January 13.
In all, 12 cities have been identified under the centrally sponsored scheme. Ajmer in Rajasthan, Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, Gaya in Bihar, Kanchipuram and Vellankani in Tamil Nadu, Badami, Amaravati in Maharashtra, Warangal in Hyderabad, Puri in Odisha and Dwarka in Gujarat have also been selected.
These cities have been allocated funds in the slab between Rs20 crore and Rs35 crore under the project to be supervised by the Union Urban Development Ministry. This was decided at a meeting held on Tuesday with the State and Union Development Ministry officials. The project HRIDAY has been launched with an objective to bring together urban planning, economic growth and heritage conservation besides beautification in an inclusive and integrated manner with focus on cleanliness, livelihoods, skills, safety, security, accessibility and faster service delivery in the identified heritage cities.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech early this year had allocated Rs500 crore to make heritage cities economic growth engines to not only make these regions more tourist-friendly but also improves quality of life of locals. Under the plan, each of the identified cities will prepare the heritage management plan (HMP) outlining the heritage resources and develop policies to guide their conservation, restoration, future use and development. Documentation of all heritage sites, conservation of areas, more facilities for women, senior citizens and differently abled citizens besides improved connectivity and access to tourist, attractions focusing on the improvement of last-mile connectivity will be the major focus of the plan.
“As per the Government directives, the development works has to be completed in next four years,” the sources said adding that “the Heritage City Division, in the Ministry has already approved allocation of funds to develop the selected cities and subsequent sanction letters will be handed over to representatives of each selected city at the event on January 13.”