Several states want land for guest houses in Ayodhya

Lucknow: Several state governments have approached the Uttar Pradesh government for land in Ayodhya as the first phase of Ram temple construction nears completion and the new Ayodhya township project gathers momentum.

The Uttar Pradesh Housing Board has already allotted 6,000 square metres land to Gujarat for its state guest house in the new Ayodhya township project.

The township project will be executed by the Housing Board that will come up on 1407-acre land on Lucknow-Ayodhya NH -27. Later, the project will be expanded up to 1800-acre.

The states want the land in Ayodhya to open their guest houses.

According to the Ayodhya administration, Nepal, Sri Lanka and South Korea have also asked for five-acre land in Ayodhya which will be allotted in the new Ayodhya township project.

The new township will come up in two phases. In the first phase, 539- acre land will be required. The first phase of the project will be rolled out after Deepotsav celebration in Ayodhya on November 11.

As per the Ayodhya administration, land for the project has been procured in several villages, including Manjha, Manjha Tirua, Manjha Barhata and Shahnawazpur.

Neeraj Shukla, additional housing commissioner, Housing Board, said, “The Housing Board has received applications from Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Assam, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh for allotment of land. We have sent a reply asking them to visit the site in Ayodhya.”

“Land will only be allotted to state governments after their representatives visit the site and give their consent,” Shukla added.

According to Shukla, the state government will also construct its guest house in Ayodhya. “Around 100 mutts and ashrams have also applied for land in Ayodhya,” he said.

“But due to paucity of land in Ayodhya, it will not be possible for the Housing Board to allot land to so many mutts. Therefore, we will adopt lottery system to allot land to mutts,” he added.

After Ram temple, the new township project will be the next mega project to come up in Ayodhya. The state government has conceptualised the project to decongest the temple town as footfall of devotees in Ayodhya will rise manifold after Ram temple opens for devotees in January next.