Rs.200 Crore development plan for Shirdi

The Maharashtra state government has formed the Shirdi Development Authority to recast the Shirdi township on the lines of Tirupati. Infrastructure projects valued at Rs 200 crore in the temple town were cleared by the chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.The makeover plan includes the construction of a mall.The projects will be sponsored by the Shirdi Saibaba Sansthan Trust and the work was held up as the state law and judiciary department had raised objections. The L&JD department had said that Shirdi temple had a trust and could not fund infraprojects. Setting aside the issues raised by the legal mandarins, Deshmukh cleared the project. The earlier tenders issued by MSRDC, the implementing agency of these projects, had lapsed due to the L&JD’s objections.MSRDC’s managing director Satish Gavai said, ‘‘We will construct skywalks, footpaths, pedestrian pathways, multi-layer parking lots, ring roads and a bypass road for traffic, which will facilitate pilgrims.’’ MSRDC’s chief engineer Subhash Nage said nine gardens will come up in and around Shirdi. The multi-layer car park will be at least ten levels high and the skywalk around the temple will be around 6 km in length. Pedestrian pathways will be constructed around Pimpalgaon Road, ZP Road and Dwarkamai Road.Deshmukh said the project will give a further boost to the development of the holy town which is visited by lakhs of devotees every week. Last weekend alone, eight lakh devotees visited the temple.The MSRDC will widen and reconstruct around 25 kms of road in and around the town. At present, motorists have to use the Manmad-Ahmednagar road to travel to Shirdi. The bypass will reduce vehicular traffic in Shirdi.The work on Shirdi-Puntamba railway corridor is moving at a snail’s pace due to the monsoon. Connecting Shirdi with the rail network has been a dream project for Union railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav. He is an ardent devotee of Saibaba.Railway officials said they will complete the 18-km line by January 2009. Shirdi Sansthan’s chairperson and local MLA Jayant Sasane said a businessman, Prem Daryanani has donated 50 acres of land to the Sansthan for setting up a knowledge city.