GDA to take over Kailash Mansarovar Bhawan in Indirapuram

The centre is meant for lodging pilgrims who take part in Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, Kanwar Yatra and Sindhu Yatra. The building, which houses a basement and four floors, can accommodate 280 people in 94 rooms. Spread over an area of about 9,000 square metres, it has come up at a cost of about ₹70 crore, said sources

The newly-built Kailash Mansarovar Bhawan in Indirapuram will soon be taken over by the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) and will also open up for people as a place of stay. The authority officials said that the building will be taken over in a week’s time.

Ghaziabad, India - Oct. 7, 2022: A view of Kailash Mansarovar Bhawan in Indirapuram, in Ghaziabad, India, on Tuesday, October 7, 2022. (Photo by Sakib Ali/ Hindustan Times)

The centre is meant for lodging pilgrims who take part in Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, Kanwar Yatra and Sindhu Yatra. The building, which houses a basement and four floors, can accommodate 280 people in 94 rooms. Spread over an area of about 9,000 square metres, it has come up at a cost of about ₹70 crore, said sources.

“The authority will take over the building within a week. We will draft the modalities for expression of interest for roping in a private agency for maintenance and operation of the building. As per the Uttar Pradesh government’s directions, people who are not pilgrims can also stay here. However, the tariffs for the rooms have not been defined as yet. For normal pilgrims, a room is available for ₹200 while another amount of ₹200 is charged for meals,” said Rakesh Kumar Gupta, GDA chief engineer.

The building was constructed by UP Rajkiya Nirman Nigam while it is presently maintained by UP’s Dharmarth Karya Vibhag (department of religious affairs).

CM Yogi Adityanath had laid its foundation stone in August 2017 and inaugurated the building during a visit to Ghaziabad in December 2020.

The project was initially proposed at Arthala near the Ala Hazrat Haj House. However, some environmentalists had filed complaints with the district administration maintaining that one of the major land chunks was registered as a ‘jheel’ (a water body), whose nature cannot be changed as per norms. The municipal corporation, on the other hand, claimed that the land was ‘banjar’ (barren) in their property records.

HT had published several reports on the controversy. Later, the then district magistrate, Ministhy S, took cognisance and acted swiftly in the matter and the land at Indirapuram was finalised by the state government.