Vindhyachal, one of the most sacred places of Hindus, will be a part of the comprehensive Vindhyavasini Temple Corridor project to be developed to promote religious tourism in the state.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the Uttar Pradesh cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath here on Friday.

One of the priority areas of the chief minister,  this project will  boost religious tourism and generate new jobs in the process in the state besides facilitating devotees coming to the Vindhyavasini Dham. Water and adventure sports activities will also be part of the project, according to a government spokesman.

The Vindhyachal Dham Corridor will be developed in an area of 2,542.78 square metres and it will be shaped on the lines of the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor. It will be constructed in a phased manner.

In the first phase, a total of 92 properties will be acquired within the ‘parikrama’ area of Vindhyavasini Dham .At present, the ‘parikrama’ route in the main temple complex is very narrow and prone to accidents.

During the development of the corridor around the temple premises, the roads will be widened to facilitate smooth movement of devotees.

The state government will bear all the expenses of the project, which will create numerous direct and indirect employment opportunities at the local level.

Jal Jeevan Mission: In its endeavour to make pure drinking water available to everyone, the cabinet has approved three new multi-crore rupees projects for Jalaun and Sonbhadra districts under the Jal Jeevan Mission.

In another decision, the cabinet has agreed to increase the land bank to further accelerate industrialisation in the state. The government has decided to reduce the conversion fee from agriculture to industrial land use from 35 percent to 20 percent.

Buddha Circuit: For the development of the Buddha Circuit, the cabinet has approved 186 tourism development projects for Sarnath and eight for Kushinagar. While the Varanasi Development Authority will be carrying out the works of Sarnath, the Gorakhpur Development Authority will be handling the works of Kushinagar.