Friday, 12 January 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
In a major boost to the Manaskhand Mandir Mala Mission of chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, the Indian railways will start a new train service ‘Manaskhand express’ from April 15. The additional chief secretary (ACS) Radha Raturi said that the new train will operate from Kolkata in West Bengal to Tanakpur in Uttarakhand. The ACS reviewed the progress of the works under the Manakhand Mandir Mala Mission at the State secretariat on Thursday.
She said that for the convenience of devotees and tourists, local buses and other transport services will be operated from Tanakpur to Purnagiri, Hatkalika, Patal Bhubaneswar, Jageshwardham, Golju devta temple, Nanda Devi, Kainchi dham and other temples of Manaskhand Mandir Mala Mission.
The devotees can stay at the guest houses of KMVN, home stays and local hotels and local guides trained under Hunar Yojana will help in providing hospitality to the tourists. Rail service is available from Kathgodam to Kolkata for the return of tourists.
In the review meeting, Raturi directed the officers of the Public Works Department (PWD) to complete the widening work of the approach roads connecting the temples under the Manaskhand mission as early as possible.
In the meeting the officers of the Tourism department informed the ACS that under the Manaskhand Mandir Mala Mission, separate master plans of all the 16 temples of the Kumaon division have been approved and out of these, DPR of nine temples has been prepared.
The work of beautification and development of temples is being done with a cluster approach. Raturi said that the beautification works of all the temples covered under the mission should be complete on time. She asked the officers of PWD to expedite the work of converting single lane roads into double lane roads. The ACS directed the officers of the culture department to revoke the ‘heritage act’ for the conservation of heritage of the ancient temples. Secretary Sachin Kurve and the senior officers of culture, PWD and tourism departments were present in the meeting.
