YOGI TO INAUGURATE UPSTDC’S BHAGIRATHI GUEST HOUSE TODAY

LUCKNOW:: As chief minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurates the Uttar Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation’s ( UPSTDC) Bhagirathi guest house in Haridwar on Thursday, his move would signify an end to an old dispute that arose over transfer of UPSTDC’s Alaknanda guest house (Haridwar) to Uttarakhand.

Alaknanda was one of the UPSTDC’s prime tourist bungalows in the undivided Uttar Pradesh. It became a disputed property when it was declared a part of the new hill state following the division of assets and liabilities after creation of Uttarakhand on November 9, 2000.

As Uttar Pradesh refused to hand over the Alaknanda guest house to Uttarakhand, it remained a bone of contention between the two states. An understanding was later reached between the two states and it was decided to hand over 3,000 square metre land to UP Tourism within the premises of Alaknanda guest house.

The Bhagirathi guest house has come up on the land provided to UP Tourism to develop UP’s tourist bungalow there. The Uttar Pradesh cabinet on April 19, 2022 decided to handover the Bhagirthi guest house to the UPSTDC.

During his visit to Uttarakhand in November 2020, Yogi had promised that the state government would transfer Alaknanda guest house to Uttarakhand.

“We will formally hand over the Alaknanda guest house to Uttarakhand within two years from the date the latter cleared the maps of Bhagirathi, UP’s new guest house (adjacent to the Alaknanda Guest House),” he said. Yogi had also said all the major issues between the two states had been resolved amicably.