Mahakumbh-2025: PDA Board approves ₹60 crore for beautification

Creating a separate head for keeping a record of the works the Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA) is carrying out for Mahakumbh-2025, the PDA Board has approved spending ₹60 crore kept under the head on beautification works to be undertaken in the city limits before the formal start of the mega religious fair.

In a meeting held in the PDA auditorium in Indira Bhawan on Thursday, the PDA Board approved spending of the funds for beautification of highways, approach roads, flyovers etc besides landscaping.

The funds will also be used for creating green belts and other horticulture interventions, setting up of facade lighting, improving road junctions, putting up traffic signages besides sculptures, murals and street painting etc, said officials aware of the decision.

In the meeting, the board approved the entire plan of Bade Hanuman Mandir Corridor. Now, the plan will be sent to the state government for a formal nod.

In the board meeting, the land given near Nehru Park in exchange for the land taken from the Army as well as the agreement reached with the temple management committee for the proposed corridor has been included in the proposal to be sent to the state government.

The Hanuman Mandir Corridor case had also come up in the last meeting of the board. The agreement reached with the temple management has been included in the new proposal to resolve the dispute regarding the maintenance of the premises.

According to the agreement, the management inside the temple will remain the same. The PDA board will maintain the new constructions that would be undertaken as part of the project. The proposal for land use change of Shambhunath Institute of Engineering and Technology will also be sent to the state government.

The meeting was held under divisional commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant. District magistrate Navneet Singh Chahal, Mahakumbh mela officer Vijay Kiran Anand, municipal commissioner Chandra Mohan Garg, PDA secretary Ajit Kumar Singh besides other officers and engineers were present in the meeting.

Now divisional commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant will study the amendments proposed for the Master Plan-2031. The amendment in the master plan was placed before the PDA Board on Thursday. The divisional commissioner talked about studying the amendment in the master plan. The revised master plan made on the instructions of the government will be presented in the next meeting of the board now.

The PDA had prepared the master plan and sent it to the state government. The government has directed certain amendments to it. The proposal for regularisation of daily wage and contractual employees working for the PDA was also approved by the PDA board. Now the decision of the board will be sent to the state government for approval, officials said.