Despite spending ₹31 crore, cleanliness of ‘tiraths’ remains a challenge in Haryana
KARNAL: Even as Rs 31.48 crore have been spent by the Haryana government on the development and upgrade of 81 ‘tiraths’ located in ‘48-kos parikrama’ of Kurukshetra since June 2014, upkeep and cleanliness at the ‘tiraths’ remains a challenge.
The Kurukshetra Development Board (KDB), in reply of an application filed by Panipatbased advocate Amit Rathee, revealed that Rs 32.85 crore was released for development of 81 ‘tiraths’ in parts of Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Jind and Karnal districts.
As per the reply, Rs 5.32 crore was allocated for development of 16 ‘tiraths’ in Karnal, Rs 1.92 crore on development of Mukteshwari ‘tirath’ in Narwana of Jind, Rs 1.08 crore on development of Hansraj ‘tirath’ in Jind, Rs 1.05 crore each on renovation and beautification of Kukrityanshan ‘tirath’ in Kakot village of Kaithal and development of Rasmangal ‘tirath’ in Jakholi of Kaithal, and Rs 1 crore on development of Khatwangeshwar ‘tirath’ in Narwana.
Also, Rs 1.37 crore allocated to ‘tiraths’ were returned as these ‘tiraths’ come under the ASI.
During a visit to the recently developed ‘tiraths’, it was found that cleanliness and upkeep of these ‘tiraths’ remain a major issue. Even the work on many ‘tiraths’ has not been completed yet. Around Rs 64 lakh was spent on construction of five ponds, a ghat and a shed but the Panchdev ‘tirath’ in Karnal’s Padha village is in a poor state, Even the boundary wall is broken and a newly-constructed wall between two ponds has collapsed in the recent rains.
When the issue was taken up with Karnal deputy commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav, he said, “I will look into the matter and strict instructions will be issued for better upkeep of this ‘tirath’ by forming a village-level committee.”
The condition of Surajkund ‘tirath’ located in Jyotinagar of Kurukshetra is also not satisfactory despite the KDB claiming to have allocated over Rs 1.30 crore on development of this ‘tirath’ since 2015.
However, the KDB officials said the project could not be completed yet and the second phase is yet to be completed.
Waterlogging on the main entrance of the Jyotisar ‘tirath’, where lakhs of people from across country visit every year, is a major challenge and people face problems during rains despite Rs 12 lakh being spent on contraction of pavement and repair work.
“The government did a good job by developing this ‘tirath’ in our village but the water could not be released in the pond yet and in lack of water it has become a grazing ground for stray cattle,” said Ranjit Singh, of the village.
Rasmangal ‘tirath’ in Jakholi village of Kaithal was found well maintained and construction of ghats, a conference hall and toilets is near completion with Rs 1.05 crore.
On why the money was spent on the ‘tiraths’ related to Hindu mythology as the KDB was set up for overall development of Kurukshetra, KDB honorary secretary Madan Mohan Chhabra said, “We are not sending money to promote any religion or place but to provide facilities to people visiting these places as they need shelter, food, and toilets.”
KDB member secretary Atul Dwivedi said he will take up the issue of lack of cleanliness and poor upkeep of the ‘tiraths’ with the CEO of the KDB.
KDB CEO Anubhav Mehta said, “There were some problems due to which the projects are not complete yet. Efforts will be made to ensure cleanliness.”