Panel formed for development of Bankey Behari temple in Mathura

Mathura (Uttar Pradesh), Jan 4 An eight-member committee has been constituted to prepare a detailed report with estimated expenditure about the cost of land and proposed development plan of Sri Bankey Behari Temple in Vrindavan.

The committee has been constituted in light of the order passed by the Allahabad High Court on December 20, 2022, while hearing a PIL submitted before it.

The committee has been constituted by district magistrate, Mathura, Navneet Chahal and is headed by Anunay Jha, the municipal commissioner for Mathura Vrindavan Municipal Corporation.

Anunay Jha said, "The committee is supposed to prepare a detailed report with estimated expenditure about the cost of land required and propose a development plan to be carried out in this area of 5 acre of land around the Bankey Behari Temple."

"We have begun our work and will now visit the area to conduct a survey. We will undertake a survey of the entire area for estimation of land cost and propose a development plan aimed at providing an easy darshan experience to devotees," added Jha.

The committee is required to submit its report within a week to the district magistrate Mathura before being forwarded to the state government which will submit the estimation of land cost and proposed development plan before the Allahabad High Court on date fixed which is January 17.

A division bench of Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice J.J Munir is hearing the PIL filed by Anant Sharma and another who had raised the issue through a petition filed in public interest seeking direction to the state of Uttar Pradesh to frame a proper scheme for the maintenance and upkeep of the Sri Bankey Behari Temple in Vrindavan town.

The focus was to be mainly on crowd management, especially during festivals and holidays when lakhs of devotees gather at the temple.