State to prepare action plan to develop heritage town Badami

The State government will soon commence the process of preparing an action plan for comprehensive and holistic development of the historic town of Badami in Bagalkot district under the Centre’s Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY).

Badami is among the 12 heritage towns across the country to be developed under the Centrally funded programme launched recently by the NDA government.

“We have received guidelines from the union urban development ministry on preparing the action plan and will start the process soon,” Urban Development Secretary T K Anil Kumar told Deccan Herald.

The project will not just focus on maintenance of monuments but also on development of the entire town, its planning, access to basic services for tourists and also improvement of the local economy and livelihoods of the local population.

Anil Kumar said the basic framework for improvement of Badami was ready. “We need to value add the available plan and prepare a detailed project report in consultation with various stakeholders. We plan to submit the action plan to the Centre by February end,” the officer said.

Badami was the one-time capital of the Chalukyas and is famous for its cave temples and carving dating back to the sixth and seventh centuries. It is also known for the Banashankari Temple festival held during January. Around Rs 40 crore could be sanctioned by the Centre for the facelift of Badami.

The State government is planning to include issues like protection of monuments, improvement of roads, public transportation, installation of CCTV cameras and wi-fi access zones, skill development for tour operators, development of Badami art and museum gallery among others in its action plan. Other issues to be addressed include improvement of toilets, drinking water facilities, parking, street lighting and solid waste management in Badami.

While Badami was selected directly by the Centre for the HRIDAY project, Anil Kumar said the State government will propose the cities of Vijayapura, Udupi and Hosapete for development under the heritage component of Smart City scheme of the Centre.

The other heritage towns selected by the Centre for HRIDAY include Amritsar, Ajmer, Mathura, Gaya, Kanchipuram, Vellankanni, Varanasi, Puri, Dwaraka, Warrangal and Amrawati.
A total of Rs 500 crore has been allotted for the project. An interesting feature is that there will be people’s participation in monitoring the implementation of the project.