Ayodhya likely to be 1st UP town with global consultant
The housing and urban planning department will initiate the process of hiring a global consultant soon.
LUCKNOW : The Uttar Pradesh government is considering to hire a global consultant for the ‘all-encompassing, long-term’ development of the temple town Ayodhya. The housing and urban planning department will initiate the process soon, said a senior state government official.
“With the (Ram) temple to come up soon and the state government positioning Ayodhya as an important tourist and pilgrimage centre, the government is looking at the overall development of the town with an over 100-year relevance and sustainability of the plan and the work executed under it,” the officer said.
“Once a consultant is hired, all development works — tourism development and promotion, infrastructure development, conservation, connectivity, internal transport or foot movement, amenities — will come under this plan,” the officer added.
Ayodhya would be the first town in UP for whose development a global consultant would be hired.“Often, consultants are hired for a greenfield project, not a brownfield project such as an existing, old city,” said the officer. Ayodhya district magistrate Anuj Kumar Jha said: “The hiring of the consultant and the process towards it would be done by the housing and urban planning department. They will make the terms of reference and invite the expression of interest.”
Once the department announces the process, it would take four months to complete the hiring of a consultant, beginning with invitation of bids from interested companies/consultants.
The state government officers have already made a presentation regarding the plan before the chief minister and would appoint a committee soon for overseeing and handling the hiring process.The UP government had initiated an Ayodhya development programme in 2017 and speeded it up after the Supreme Court judgment that ended the dispute over the ownership of the land on which the Ram temple would now come up.
The Ayodhya Development Authority (ADA) on Thursday handed over the approved map and related documents of the
Ram temple to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust that would build the temple. On
Thursday, chief minister Yogi Adityanath reviewed Ayodhya development work and sought to develop Ayodhya as a ‘solar city’ to help conserve and balance Ayodhya’s environment and give the holy city a new identity.
“Ayodhya is known worldwide as Lord Ram’s city and has an immense mythological significance and, therefore, all the development works in the town must be executed, keeping its ancient culture intact.
Ayodhya, once developed, will spur the speedier development of several districts in eastern UP,” he said.
The state government has an elaborate development plan for the town, including make-over of riverfront and ghats, multi-level parking, increasing hotels, underground power cabling and tourist and pilgrimage promotion etc..