Mahabharata-themed project at Jyotisar gets one-yr deadline
Nitish Sharma
Kurukshetra, August 10
The Mahabharata-themed building project at Jyotisar Tirtha, the birthplace of Bhagavad Gita, that missed its deadline in March last year, has now got another deadline for the end of July next year.
A tender for the remaining work has been allotted to the Haryana Tourism Corporation (HTC) by the PWD (B&R). Meanwhile, a ‘bhumi pujan’ is being performed at Jyotisar today.
The construction of five themed buildings at a cost of Rs 50 crore started in 2018 and was supposed to be completed by March 2021, but around 60 per cent of the civil work was completed till April this year. The pandemic, waterlogging due to rain, delay in the hiring of theme consultant and an issue related to funds deposition were cited as reasons behind the delay, by the officials concerned .
A range of themes including Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, Vedic Civilisation, 48 kos Kurukshetra and 18 days of Mahabharata battle will be depicted here. There will be a use of augmented reality, artificial intelligence, holographic images and other latest technologies will be used.
An official said, “The delay in the project will impact the cost and most of the work is still pending.”
“The work is set to resume and the department wants to complete the project at the earliest. A budget of Rs 200 crore is to be spent on the remaining work including furnishing, solar power installations, theme, interior and landscaping”, said Gautam Kumar, Executive Engineer, HTC.
Madan Mohan Chhabra, honorary secretary of the Kurukshetra Development Board (KDB) said, “It is an ambitious project for the state government and the KDB. We are in touch with the senior officials of the Tourism Department who have assured that the work on the project will be completed in a year.”
