PM Modi inaugurates Varanasi smart city projects worth Rs 50.92 cr

On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated several projects under Varanasi Smart City covering the basement parking and park at Townhall, ghat revitalisation and façade restoration work at five ghats, beautification and conservation of Chakra Pond, and Bio-CNG Plant at Gau Ashray Kendra, Shahanshahpur. As per the spokesperson of Smart City, a fund of Rs 50.92 crore was used for the implementation of these projects. For helping tourists and visitors, the ghat revitalisation and façade restoration work was done at Ahilyabai, Sheetla, Munshi, Dashashwamedh and Darbhanga ghats for Rs 2.02 crore. In the facade development work of the buildings located on the ghats, essentially acrylic paint, graffiti, stains on the buildings were removed, and the dilapidated stone, balcony, railing were fixed and replaced. Besides, crack repair, removal of cement plaster on buildings and installation of lime plaster and lime wash were also done. While maintaining the buildings as heritage, its façade was restored to its original design and glory. The repair and replacement work of dilapidated steps has been done on the ghats, with which the original image has been rendered by replacing the thin stone cladding and CC base at Dashashwamedh Ghat. Under the Varanasi Smart City, basement parking and a park on the ground level have been built at the town hall at Maidagin crossing for Rs 23.31 crore to ease traffic congestion and solve parking issues. The parking has a capacity of 200 two-wheelers and 150 four-wheelers along with the facility of smart parking solution, provided with fire-fighting standards and CCTV surveillance. The rebuilt park will have amenities such as a yoga garden, open gym, vending zone, gazebo, jogging track, herbal garden, toilets and drinking water. The beautification and redevelopment work of Chakra Pond situated in the Sigra area was done for Rs 2.59 crore. Aerated fountain, jogging track, pergola, gazebo, open gym, pathways, toilets and drinking water facilities are provided, along with the paved boundary around the pond. A gaushala (cowshed), run by the Varanasi Municipal Corporation with a capacity of 300 cows, is situated in Shahanshapur village, Raja Talab Tehsil. It has approximately 30,000 cattle in a radius of 20 km with an average emission of 5 to 10 kg of cow dung. Image SourceAlso read: Large-scale irregularities detected in UP smart city projects