Tent city slated to come up around the Ram temple in Ayodhya

Ayodhya: After the completion of the construction of the Ram temple, a tent city will be set up in Ayodhya to provide quality accommodation to the pilgrims visiting the holy city. To be set up on over 3.70 acres of land adjacent to the temple complex along the Parikrama Marg near the Brahma Kund Gurdwara, the tent city will have at least 200 tents, each with an area of 250 square feet.

Ayodhya Development Authority (ADA) has started the process of selection of experienced agencies for this. Tent city work is expected to be completed by November. With the Ram temple expected to open for pilgrims in January next year, the development authority needs to rapidly increase the number of quality rooms for tourists to two or three stars in the tent city, said Vishal Singh, vice-chairman of the authority. Services will be provided at par with hotels.

Singh said that no permanent structure would be installed while erecting the tents and the authority would seek sewerage treatment and waste water treatment plans of the operator in advance to remove any loopholes and possibility of environmental hazard. Singh said a vacant area of 15,000 square meters has been identified for the purpose.

Officials said that it would take 15 to 20 minutes to walk from the tent city to the temple premises. According to estimates prepared by the local administration, Ayodhya currently has 17 hotels that can offer around 600 rooms. The city will need more than 5,000 rooms during festival days and long weekends.

Earlier, riverside tent cities have been set up in Prayagraj and Varanasi to cater to the needs of guests looking for quality stay options. In Lucknow too, a tent city was set up ahead of the Global Investors Summit in February and has been extremely popular with visitors.