Makeover for 5 UP cities including Varanasi and Gorakhpur is on the cards

The project to transform Varanasi, Agra, Mathura, Ayodhya and Gorakhpur was among several projects. (File)

A makeover for five cities of Uttar Pradesh is on the cards. The project to transform Varanasi, Agra, Mathura, Ayodhya and Gorakhpur was among several projects discussed during a meeting between CM Yogi Adityanath and Union Tourism and Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma in Delhi earlier this week.

While Adityanath assured Sharma of fast-tracking the projects that the Union minister had announced over the last two years but which could not take off, the duo also discussed plans to change the faces of five cities — including the constituencies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Varanasi) and the new CM (Gorakhpur) — ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Sources said the first step would be to develop major tourist attractions and places of worship in these cities, followed by renovation of railway stations.

“We had a brief meeting to discuss what could be done to promote tourism in the state, but specific details will be worked out later,” Sharma said. An official from the Tourism Ministry said, “Our initial plan was to transform four major cities in UP on the lines of Amritsar…. As the new CM is from Gorakhpur, his constituency has been added to the list.”