Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh has said, Udhampur Parliamentary constituency, in particular the Udhampur sector which also includes Katra and Reasi that were part of erstwhile Udhampur district, is going to offer a unique religious tourism circuit with the integrated development through Rs 190 cr River Devika Rejuvenation Project, Rs 100 cr Mantalai Project, Mansar lake under Swarajya Yojana, Sudh Mahadev, Surinsar, etc.
Dr Singh said this while convening a review meeting with the district administration Udhampur at Mantalai on July 16 (Sunday).
Referring to Mantalai project, which was the venue of the meeting, Dr Singh said, the project was initially started by Late Dhirendra Brahmachari, who happened to be the Yog Guru of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and obtained the land on lease. However, midway through the project, Brahamachari suddenly died following an air crash accident and since then the successive Congress governments did not attend to it and allowed it to turn into a shambles. However, he said, it was only after the Modi government took over in 2014 that the project was revived nearly three decades later and now a State-of-the-art Wellness Centre cum Tourist Resort has come up at this location. Similar is the case of River Devika which had remained unattended all these years and only after Modi took over as Prime Minister, North India’s first-ever River Rejuvenation project approved for the renovation and beautification of River Devika, which is held in holy esteem, he added.
Dr Singh said, the Udhampur Parliamentary Constituency is blessed with the treasure of ancient religious tourism sites in the country and it has been possible under PM Narendra Modi that these religious tourism sites have been taken care of and developed for the first time for ease of religious pilgrimage and revival of religious tourism in the country.
Dr Singh said, Udhampur Parliamentary Constituency is the infrastructural marvel and best-ever connected constituency in the country, and has seen tremendous development in the last nine years. The Delhi Katra Express Highway, historic Kamakhya (Assam) to Katra (Vaishno Devi) train covering a distance of more than 2,000 Km and connecting the two important destinations of religious pilgrimage and Vande Bharat Express are among the best gifts provided by PM Narendra Modi giving a boost to the religious tourism in Jammu and Kashmir.