Jharkhand government seeks national fair tag for Deoghar Shravani mela

Source: hindustantimes.com

The Jharkhand government will send a proposal to the Centre requesting national fair status to Deoghar Shravani mela, the cabinet decided on Tuesday. The formal proposal will be made soon.

Putting a seal on the tourism department’s proposal, the state cabinet decided to take it up with the Union government in the form of a recommendation with the plea to declare Shravani mela a national fair, said cabinet secretary Ajoy Kumar Singh in Deoghar while briefing media persons after the meeting.

The mela is held in Baidyanathdham (Deoghar) every year in the month of Shravan (the fifth month of Hindu calendar from mid July to mid August) wherein people offer Gangajal to the Shivalingam situated in Babadham temple. It is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas in India wherein kanwarias (devotees) in lakhs from various parts of the country and foreign lands throng the temple city.

The cabinet also put its seal on removing state value added tax (VAT) that is being levied on liquor and human consumption items sold at army canteens of the state besides the border security force (BSF) training school in Meru (Hazaribag).

It cleared the decks for the construction of two new roads and reconstruction of three existing roads as well.

The new roads sanctioned are: Dumka ring road (7.45 km) at the cost of Rs 36.77 crore (revised estimate), BishnugarhNarki road (22.96 km) in Bokaro costing Rs 41.57 crore and Fatehpur More- Bangi road via Bhelwaghati (Rs 50.51 crore) in Giridih.

The roads for which widening and strengthening was cleared are: Katra-Kerakona road in Gumla (11.40 km; Rs 56.72 lakh) and the 6.31 km Koeridih-Dighria road between Punasi and Jasidih in Deoghar district costing 27.92 crore.