Ujjain: Widening and beautification of Mahakal sawari route commences

Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh): Bhoomi pujan of two roads to be constructed for Mahakal Sawari route under the first phase was performed on Friday. The two roads where construction would begin are Mahakal Temple to Mahakal Chauraha and Mahakal Parking to Chaubis Khamba Temple.  To widen and beautify Baba Mahakal;s Sawari route, Ujjain Smart City has chalked plan for Mahakal Sawari route and construction of two roads would be taken up in the first phase.

On Friday, Bhoomi Pujan was performed for 24-metre road from Mahakal Temple to Mahakal Square and Mahakal Parking to Chaubis Khamba Temple to be constructed at a cost of Rs 18 crore. The bhoomi pujan was performed by higher education minister Mohan Yadav, MP Anil Firojia, MLA Ujjain North Paras Chandra Jain, Mayor Mukesh Tatwal, UDA chairman Shyam Bansal, collector Kumar Purushottam, Ujjain Municipal Corporation commissioner Roshan Kumar Singh and Smart City CEO Ashish Pathak.

TRADERS OPPOSE

Traders have opposed the widening of roads and submitted a memorandum. Chandrashekhar Kale and Jayesh Nagpal said that Mahakal sawari route was to be expanded. This route is currently 12-metre wide from the east. The provision to widen it to 24-metre would be sheer injustice to traders. They said that currently there was no obstacle in the said route which was the widest route in Mahakal temple area. For the approach road to Mahakal temple, facility of coming and going from Hari Phatak over-bridge towards Chardham temple had been provided by the temple administration.

Even separate parking arrangements had been provided. It was clear that as traffic pressure on this route had ended there was a need to reconsider the expansion. Since the present width of the sawari route from Mahakal Chowk and the said Mahakal temple was sufficient, the expansion plan should be cancelled. If widening was done then no space would be left for business and residents.