Excelsior Correspondent
KATRA, July 11: Simrandeep Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, today inaugurated a number of pilgrim-centric infrastructural facilities at Katra and Adhkuwari put in place by the Shrine Board at a cost of over Rs 5.75 crore.
Twenty-two rooms at Niharika Complex, Katra, were rededicated to pilgrims after complete renovation and refurbishments. The newly renovated Annapoorna Bhojanalaya in the Niharika Complex was also dedicated to pilgrims. Both these works have been completed at a cost of Rs 85 lakh. The remaining rooms in the Niharika Complex are also being taken up for complete renovation and it is proposed to renovate and refurbish the entire Niharika accommodation by June 2020.
Simrandeep Singh also took stock of Darshani Deodi at Banganga which has been recently refurbished by way of replacement of the earlier stone with carved marble stone involving a cost of Rs 25 lakh.
At Adhkuwari, the CEO inaugurated a 4-storey earthquake resistant toilet block having modern facilities. With a built up area of 8760 sft, this toilet block, which will also be the biggest toilet complex in the Shrine area, has been constructed at a cost of over Rs 2.70 crore. The toilet block has the facilities for ladies and gents with western style seats to meet the requirements of the senior citizens and specially-abled persons. It also has elevator, lockers, 4-room accommodation for sanitation staff, store, etc. The roof top of the toilet block, which is at the track level will be utilized as resting place for the pilgrims, particularly during rains.
Simrandeep Singh also operationalised a 400 KLD Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) based on MBBR technology at Adhkuwari. It has been installed at a cost of over Rs 1.78 crore, which also includes operation and maintenance cost for 5 years. This centralised STP connects all the toilet blocks in Adhkuwari Sector such as Hathimatha, Lambi Keri and Adhkuwari.
The Board has approved another important project for installation of stand-alone Packaged Sewage Treatment Plants for all the remaining toilet blocks on the yatra route.
The CEO also inspected various establishments on Tarakote Marg. Vivek Verma, Additional CEO; Dr Arvind Karwani, Amit Vermani and Deepak Dubey, Dy CEOs; Subhash Sharma, Executive Engineer; Vinay Khajuria, ACF; and other concerned officers and engineers were also present during the inspection and launching of various engineering works at different locations.
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