Proposal to bring Alandi Devasthan under govt

According to Dange,other states like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have governments managing temple trusts and the donations are used for development of the area. “If the trust comes under the government,the money can be used for development work. The proposal should be readied accordingly,” he said.

Dange,who visited the site on Saturday,said that a proposal to dissolve the existing board should be readied by the district collector. “I have conducted a review meeting on the proposal and have directed the collector to ready the proposal soon,” he said.

District Collector Chandrakant Dalvi said that he would have to conduct a review meeting before readying the plan. “The Chief secretary has asked me to ready the plan. I would have to conduct a meeting for the same,” he told The Indian Express. The government has readied a Rs 115-crore development plan for the area of which Rs 45 crore is to be spend only on water supply schemes.

When the temple trust officials were contacted they said that they had been asked to attend a meeting with the district collector on February 23. “The meeting has been conducted with the Alandi municipal council authorities and not with us. The meeting on February 23 will help us understand about the government taking over the operations,” said a member from the trust.

According to sources from the trust,the Alandi Devasthan has a corpus of Rs 7 crore. The annual palkhi generates Rs 20 lakh. The wedding season,which sees nearly 250 marriages conducted on a daily basis,puts pressure on the local administration to manage water and sanitation requirements. The devasthan also possesses 300 acres of government grazing land that is yet to be developed. Deputy collector RK Gaikwad,members of the municipal council Vilas Kurhade,Nandkumar Kurhade and tehsildar Subhash Bhagade attended the site visit to Alandi.

How rich is the trust
* Alandi Devasthan has a corpus of Rs 7 crore
* Annual palkhi generates Rs 20 lakh
* Devasthan also possesses 300 acres of government grazing land that is yet to be developed
* Wedding season sees nearly 250 marriages on a daily basis but also puts pressure on the local administration to manage water and sanitation requirements