Simhastha gets ₹3,000 crore allocation:Ghats need repair, drainage and water works pending; 128 projects set for a 2-year deadline

The Madhya Pradesh government has presented its budget on February 16 and made a provision of Rs 3,060 crore for the Ujjain Simhastha. This is Rs 1,055 crore more than the previous budget. So far, the government has set aside a total of Rs 5,570 crore for the Simhastha event. Finance Minister Jagdish Deora said in his budget speech that projects worth Rs 13,851 crore have already been approved for Simhastha. He said work by different departments is in progress. However, the government’s own economic survey gives a different picture. It says that repair work of ghats and bridges, and the upgrading of roads, has not yet been completed. A Cabinet Sub-Committee formed for the event has approved 128 projects from 10 departments. The total estimated cost of these projects is Rs 13,752 crore. The Urban Development and Housing Department has the highest number of projects at 42. But work has started on only 33 of them so far. How will Simhastha’s work be completed in two years? What plan has the government made for this? Read the report Less time, more work – 26 projects still on paper With only two years left for Simhastha 2028 to begin, work has started on only 102 out of the 128 approved projects. This means that 26 important projects are still stuck in files. These pending schemes include projects like widening roads, constructing new bridges, expanding ghats, improving traffic management, and providing accommodation for devotees. Additionally, work on basic facilities like drinking water and sewerage lines has also not been completed yet. The bigger and more important the schemes are, the less time is left to complete them, which has become a major challenge for the administrative machinery. Recently, in a departmental review meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Anurag Jain, it came to light that the highest capital expenditure amount of Rs 2300 crore in the state is still remaining in the Simhastha fund, which needs to be spent as soon as possible. The Urban Development and Housing Department bears the biggest responsibility for Simhastha preparations. The Urban Development Department, which has the biggest responsibility for Simhastha preparations, has to complete 42 projects costing Rs 2760 crore. However, the department has so far been able to implement only 33 projects. Purification of Shipra: Government’s biggest challenge The soul of Simhastha is connected with bathing in the holy waters of the Shipra River, and the biggest challenge for the government is to provide millions of devotees with clean and pure water. The Water Resources Department is working on five major projects in this direction, but the pace of their progress is alarming. Hope for Central Assistance
To reduce the financial burden of this mega-event, the state government has been appealing to the centre for help for the past three years. Although no direct announcement was made in the central budget, the state government expects to receive 6,000 to 7,000 crore rupees from the centre in instalments.