Uttarakhand faces uphill task on kumbh mela

With the Centre providing Rs 565 crore for the maha kumbh mela to be held at Haridwar in the beginning of the next year, the Uttarakhand government is virtually facing an uphill task to spend this huge amount in the next two to three months.

Though an amount of Rs 165 crore was released last year, the Centre showed a bit benevolence this year by promising Rs 400 crore more for the mela, which is considered to be the biggest congregation on the planet.

And now the onus has fallen on the Uttarakhand government to spend the money legitimately as well as honestly.

A worried Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank today surprised financial experts by saying that temporary works worth Rs 324 crore were being carried out for the religious congregation. This is being seen as the government’s move to hasten the process of the spending at Haridwar.

Nishank’s new assertion that the temporary works would get priority over the permanent ones has put the central agencies in a tizzy, which were monitoring various development works being done at Haridwar, where over 2-4 crore people are expected to gather in the first quarter of 2010.

During his visit to Haridwar, where he inaugurated “Haridwar Mahotsav”, Nishank, however, described the huge expenditures on the Kumbh mela as a “historic step.” He said the government was undertaking both permanent and temporary works worth Rs 440 crore for the mela. Out of this, 75 per cent (Rs 324 crore) would be spent on the temporary works.

During the visit, Nishank also unveiled nearly 25 development projects worth Rs 27 crore for the mela. When contacted, a government official, on the condition of anonymity, however, said the planning for the kumbh mela was not proper. “The government has hardly come out with any big infrastructure projects like expressways or a mega parking facility, which is badly needed for the congested Haridwar region,” said the official.

On the other hand, state Congress President Yashpal Arya has criticised the government for poor planning at the mega fair. “This is a fit example of bad planning and bad investment,” said Arya.