Gandhi’s grandson visits Dandi,finds amenities missing on proposed heritage route

During his tour at Dandi on Monday,Gopalkrishna found the place barren and without any development work having taken place. There was no guest house,drinking water facility and other basic amenities.

The Union Government and the state government are jointly working on developing the Dandi Heritage Corridor from the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad to Dandi in Navsari.

Gopalkrishna was accompanied by state Tourism Secretary D K Rao,Managing Director of Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Anup Shukla,District Development officer D A Satya and Navsari District Collector R C Meena.

Gopalkrishna visited Saifee Villa (a place where Mahatma Gandhi passed one night before breaking the Salt Law),Prathna Hall and Dandi Beach. He also met some of the people of Gandhian ideology and discussed with them the facilities lacking at the place. Some of the people told him that no development work has been undertaken at these places till date.

They said that even schools are organising picnics at Dandi in the absence of guest houses. The roads are improper and the major problem is of drinking water.

Navsari District Collector R C Meena said: “The purpose of the visit was to develop Dandi as a tourist spot where people from India and abroad can come and see the historical place. The state and the Central government have allotted funds to carry out development works in Dandi. The work to be carried out include repair of Saifee Villa,Prathna Hall,Dandi Beach,Mahatma Gandhi’s statue,pond and drinking water supply facility,roads,guest house,among others. He has given several instructions to the officials who were present at the spot.”

Meanwhile,Mahesh Kothari,president of Dandi Namak Satyagrah Smarak Trust said: “We met Gopalkrishna Gandhi on Tuesday and he said that development work in Dandi will be completed by 2010 and this could also benefit the residents of Dandi village. He was a little unhappy earlier. We were happy to see Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson.”