Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel threw open the historic Uparkot fort in Junagadh after the Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited (TCGL) completed its Rs 74-crore restoration work. He also inaugurated Mahabat Maqbara and Wazir Bahauddin Maqbaras restored at a cost of Rs 7.12 crore.
In a documentary, TCGL said 25 sections of the 2000-year-old fort have been restored. For this, it used 2.26 lakh cubic m of limestone, 1.1 lakh cubic m of sandstone, 1,500 cubic m of wood, 3,000 tonnes of lime and 80 tonnes of jaggery. The restoration work started in 2019 and went on for 28 months.
CM Patel visited the fort as well as the 19th century Mahabat Maqbara and Wazir Bahauddin Maqbara – mausoleums of Nawab Mahabat Khan-II, ruler of erstwhile Junagadh state and Wazir Bahauddin, wazir of the erstwhile princely state of Junagadh, respectively.
Addressing a public meeting after the inaugurations, Patel said the government will make Junagadh a “loveable and liveable” city and also allocate funds for various projects coming up on Mount Girnar.
“Junagadh has a municipal corporation and as such, the city has to develop in a manner, which will facilitate progressive increase in facilities. We wish that Junagadh becomes liveable and loveable… Once the development works in Junagadh city are completed, we will draw proper plans for development atop (Mount Girnar) and release funds for it,” he said.
Patel directed the Junagadh Municipal Corporation and district administration to map encroachment on voklas (streams) passing through the city and remove the same so that flash floods like the one witnessed on July 22 don’t cause large scale damage.
In all, the CM inaugurated or laid foundation stones of projects worth Rs 438 crore.
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