KATRA, JULY 11:

 Mr. Simrandeep Singh,Chief Executive Officer, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, today inaugurateda number of pilgrim-centric infrastructural facilities at Katra and Adhkuwariput in place by the Shrine Board at a cost of over Rs. 5.75 crore.Twenty-tworooms at Niharika Complex, Katra were rededicated to pilgrims after completerenovation and refurbishments. The newly renovated Annapoorna Bhojanalaya inthe Niharika Complex was also dedicated to pilgrims. Both these works have beencompleted at a cost of Rs. 85 lakh. The remaining rooms in the Niharika Complexare also being taken up for complete renovation and it is proposed to renovateand refurbish the entire Niharika accommodation by June 2020.Mr. SimrandeepSingh also took stock of Darshani Deodi at Banganga which has been recentlyrefurbished by way of replacement of the earlier stone with carved marble stoneinvolving a cost of Rs. 25 lakh.At Adhkuwari, the CEO inaugurated a 4-storeyearthquake resistant Toilet Block having modern facilities. With a built uparea of 8760 sft, this Toilet Block, which will also be the biggest ToiletComplex in the Shrine area, has been constructed at a cost of over Rs. 2.70crore. The Toilet Block has the facilities for ladies and gents with westernstyle seats to meet the requirements of the senior citizens and specially-abledpersons. It also has elevator, lockers, 4-room accommodation for sanitationstaff, store, etc. The roof top of the Toilet Block which is at the track levelwill be utilized as resting place for the pilgrims, particularly duringrains.Mr. Simrandeep Singh also operationalised a 400 KLD Sewage TreatmentPlant (STP) based on MBBR technology at Adhkuwari. It has been installed at acost of over Rs. 1.78 crore, which also includes operation and maintenance costfor 5 years. This centralised STP connects all the Toilet Blocks in AdhkuwariSector such as Hathimatha, Lambi Keri and Adhkuwari. The CEO said that as partof the eco-friendly efforts of the Board aimed to ensure protection ofenvironment and ecology, the STPs of varying capacities have already beencommissioned in the Bhawan area; Trikuta Bhawan, Niharika and Ashirwad Bhawan;Gurukul and Staff Colony at Balini; Saraswati Dham, Vaishnavi Dham and KalikaDham at Jammu; and SMVDIME, Kakryal; Further, work is also in progress on twomore Packaged STPs at Banganga and Himkoti. This will be the first STP at Adhkuwari.

The Board has approved another important project forinstallation of stand-alone Packaged Sewage Treatment Plants for all theremaining Toilet Blocks on the yatra route. Since it is not feasible to connectthe existing geographically scattered Toilet Blocks with a centralised STP, assuch, the need has been felt for installing stand-alone STPs in 25 ToiletBlocks with an estimated cost of Rs. 6.65 crore in phased manner. Theinstallation of these STPs will also facilitate re-use of treated water, whichcan be further used for flushing of cisterns, civil constructions as well asgardening purposes.

During the day-long visit, the CEO also inspected variousestablishments on Tarakote Marg. These included free Langar being run by theBoard for the pilgrims at Tarakote, covering work of View Points completed at acost of Rs. 18 lakh as well as the sites identified for creation of morefacilities for the yatris at Adhkuwari and on Tarakote Marg. Mr. Vivek Verma,Additional CEO; Dr. Arvind Karwani, Mr. Amit Vermani and Mr. Deepak Dubey, Dy.CEOs; Mr. Subhash Sharma, Executive Engineer; Mr. Vinay Khajuria, ACF; andother concerned officers and engineers were also present during the inspectionand launching of various engineering works at different locations.