Ahead of Ram temple opening, Ayodhya gets infra push; Modi says prepare for pilgrim rush

The projects launched on Saturday included those of both the Centre as well as the Uttar Pradesh government. Among these are sewage treatment plants, road widening and beautification of local roads as well as National Highway roads, doubling of existing railway lines, the four much talked about “paths” in Ayodhya i.e. Ram, Dharma, Bhakti and Shri Ram Janma Bhoomi; multi-Storeyed parking facility as well as overhead bridges.

Among the other projects are significant widening and strengthening of the Lucknow-Ayodhya section of National Highway 27, widening of the Ayodhya bypass, developing new Greenfield township for Ayodhya, developing new concrete ghats between Guptar and Rajghat.

Forthcoming projects also include development of a visitors’ gallery at Ram ki Paidi, renovation of “pilgrim path” from Ram ki Paidi to Raj Ghat and Raj Ghat to Mandir, along with conservation and beautification of four entrance gates to the town.

Key projects

Maharishi Valmiki International Airport: Built at a cost of Rs 1,462 crore, newly developed 6,250 square metres of the New Terminal Building is equipped to handle over 300 passengers at peak hour. PM Modi said the airport, which has been named after Maharishi Valmiki, can handle 10 lakh passengers in a year. The first flights from and to Delhi landed and took off on Saturday.

Ayodhya Dham Railway Station: The new railway junction, built at a cost of Rs 251 crore, has also been developed on the lines of the Nagara style of architecture, like the Ram Temple and the new airport.

PM Modi on Saturday flagged off two new Amrit Bharat trains – i.e. Darbhanga-Ayodhya-Anand Vihar Terminal Amrit Bharat Express and Malda Town-Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminus (Bengaluru) Amrit Bharat Express. He also flagged off six new Vande Bharat trains: Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra-New Delhi; Amritsar-Delhi; Coimbatore-Bangalore Cantt; Mangalore-Madgaon; Jalna-Mumbai; and Ayodhya-Anand Vihar Terminal.

The four paths

Ram Path: Around 13 km long, four lane road from Sadatganj to Lata Mangeshkar Chowk at Naya Ghat — nearly Rs 845 crore.

Dharma Path: 2 km long, four lane road from Lata Mangeshkar Chowk to Lucknow-Gorakhpur highway — Rs 65 crore.

Sri Ram Janma Bhumi Path: 566 metres long, two-lane road from Sugreev Kila to Ram Janma Bhumi via Birla Dharamshala —Rs 41 crore.

Bhakti Path: 742-metre long road from Sringhar Ghat to Hanuman Gari Rs 68 crore on purchase and revamp of buildings falling on the way.