Centre asks state govt to delink Buxar from Ramayana Circuit

PATNA: Union ministry of tourism has asked Bihar government to delink Buxar from the Ramayana Circuit project under Swadesh Darshan scheme.
Ramayana Circuit is one of the 15 thematic circuits identified by the Centre for development under the scheme. Sitamarhi, Buxar and Darbhanga in Bihar were among the 15 cities initially identified for development under this project. The state government had submitted a proposal in this regard to the Centre at a meeting held in Delhi on February 13.
A state tourism department official said they were asked to concentrate on Sitamarhi and Darbhanga under the project for the time being.“Another aspect asked to be removed from the project was the animated depiction of the story of Sita, the proposed development of caves and a water body at Punaura Dham in Sitamarhi,” he said.
The state government was also asked to remove the plan for a rock pedestal proposed to be built at Haleshwar Sthan. He said the state tourism department made a new proposal as per the recommendations made by the Centre to change certain aspects of the project. “We will present the new proposal to tourism secretary next week,” he said.
The state government was also asked to prioritise the development of the Buddhist Circuit and come up with a sustainable operational and maintenance model for the same. It has been asked to examine the gaps in the tourism infrastructure at various places in the circuit, including at Rajgir, Gaya, Vaishali and Nalanda, and come up with a proposal to bridge these gaps to achieve a holistic development of those places.
Union tourism ministry has also asked the state to revise the bus parking design at Nalanda.
In 2013, International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, had signed an agreement with the central and state governments for developing the Buddhist Circuit in Bihar with Rs 5 crore. The project was basically aimed at filling up the infrastructure and the resources gaps in the Buddhist tourism sector in India.