PM Modi Inaugurates Kashi Vishwanath Corridor
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Kashi Vishwanath corridor project, surrounding the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi.
On 13th December, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Kashi Vishwanath corridor project, surrounding the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed various rituals and prayers and took a dip in the Ganga as he launched the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor project. A total 23 buildings were inaugurated, including a Tourist Facilitation Centre, City Museum, and Food Court. Modi showered flowers on workers and other staff involved in the project and had lunch with the labourers who were part of the construction work. He expressed gratitude to them saying they had not let the Covid pandemic get in the way of their work. PM Modi in his speech at the inauguration said that elderly can use the ghat jetty to arrive on boats and take the escalator to reach the temple complex. “Now 50,000-75,000 devotees can visit the temple and Ganga. He also said that Maharaja Ranjit Singh had donated gold for plating its “shikhar”, and Guru Nanak had come to Varanasi for “satsang”. He said that other Sikh gurus had a “special connection with Varanasi”. He also highlighted the contribution of Rani Bhabani from Bengal and others from southern India.
Earlier the pilgrims had to meander through congested streets to take a dip in the Ganga and offer the water of the holy river at the temple. The corridor project was conceptualised to decongest the street and create an easily accessible pathway for the pilgrims. The foundation of the 800 crore project was laid by Modi on March 8, 2019. The cost of the first phase is Rs 339-crore. It has been completed in less than three years as planned, despite the Covid pandemic.
The project involved purchase and acquisitions of more than 300 properties around the temple. 1,400 shopkeepers, tenants and homeowners were amicably rehabilitated. During the process of destruction of the old properties, more than 40 ancient temples were rediscovered. These temples have been restored and beautified. The project is now spread over about 5 lakh square feet, whereas earlier premises were limited to just around 3,000 square feet. It may be a few more weeks before some of these phase 1 projects are actually ready to be opened to the public. Later in the evening, the Prime Minister witnessed the Ganga Aarti while on board a Ro-Ro Vessel.
