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Banke Behari Temple Corridor: Survey over, 322 constructions coming in way marked
The exercise is in compliance with the Allahabad high court order which has sought a detailed plan with estimated expenditure, including cost of land, for the corridor.
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Agra The eight-member committee constituted to prepare a detailed report with estimated expenditure and proposed development plan for Sri Bankey Behari Temple Corridor in Vrindavan has completed its survey.
In all, 322 constructions, including shops, houses and other establishments coming within a radius of 5 acres of land proposed for the corridor have been marked in red.
“The survey has been completed and now we have to work out the expenditure, including the cost of land, for which constructions coming in the way have been marked,” said Anunay Jha, municipal commissioner of Mathura who heads the survey team.
“This is in compliance with the high court order which has sought a detailed plan with estimated expenditure, including cost of land for the corridor,” he said. “The committee is supposed to prepare a detailed report with estimated expenditure on land required and propose a development plan for this area of 5 acres of land around Bankey Behari Temple. The development plan is aimed at providing easy ‘darshan’ to devotees,” Jha said.
The committee is required to submit its report to the district magistrate of Mathura within a week, before being forwarded to the state government which will submit the estimate of land cost and proposed development plan before the Allahabad high court on January 17.
However, the survey has caused anxiety among the locals, especially those whose shops, houses and other establishments have been marked by the survey team.
Mahesh Pathak, national president of Akhil Bharatiya Teerth Purohit Mahasabha, said that the concern of the locals should be addressed.
“We need to conserve the heritage of the area and the locals, mainly the ‘gosain’ (religious people serving in the temple) should be taken into confidence. Roads can be widened and only a limited number of devotees should be allowed towards the temple after registration, as in Vaishnav Devi Temple,” he suggested.
“The temple itself can be shifted to a spacious area with better parking and living space for the ‘gosain’ associated with the temple,” he added.
The survey officials are not divulging much and merely say that the survey is on court order and future course of action will be decided by the court.
To recall, the committee was constituted by the district magistrate of Mathura on December 25, in the wake of the order passed by the Allahabad high court on December 20, 2022, while hearing a PIL submitted before it.
A division bench of chief justice Rajesh Bindal and justice JJ Munir is hearing the PIL filed by Anant Sharma and another person who had sought direction to the state to frame a proper scheme for upkeep and maintenance of Sri Bankey Behari Temple in Vrindavan. Focus was to be mainly on crowd management, especially during festivals and holidays when lakhs of devotees congregate there.
