Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Jan 10: The Union government has allotted Rs 22 crore for Puri city under the Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (Hriday) scheme in order to ramp up beautification efforts of the holy city ahead of this year’s Nabakalebara.
Hriday, a Central scheme, will be wholly funded by the ministry of urban development (MoUD) and will cover 12 heritage cities including Puri, Amritsar, Ajmer, Gaya, Kanchipuram, Mathura, Varanasi and Velankanni, a senior official of housing and urban development (H&UD) told Orissa POST.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi would launch the flagship scheme January 13 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. H&UD secretary and Puri collector will attend the function and receive the fund sanction order, the official said.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech had made a provision of Rs 500 crore under the scheme in order to make heritage cities economic growth engines, and to preserve the character and soul of heritage cities and facilitate urban development.
A total of Rs 22 crore, including Rs 20 crore for the project and Rs 2 crore for planning of detailed project report (DPR), capacity building and monitoring of the project, has been allotted by the Union government for Puri. “We would demand Rs 100 crore under the scheme during the coordination meeting which will be held January 12,” said the official.
During the function, the state will put up a stall showcasing heritage components of Puri including music, cuisine and dance.
The project will include conservation of areas, more facilities for women, senior citizens and differently-abled citizens besides improved connectivity and access to tourist sites.
Developing proper parking places and hawker zones are also an integral part of rejuvenating of the city, sources said.