100 mayors in Varanasi for conference

Kicking off the month-long celebrations after the inauguration of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham project, mayors from over 100 cities of the country will start arriving in Varanasi from Thursday to attend the All-India Mayors' Conference, scheduled to be held on Friday.

The event is a part of the series of post-inauguration events.

The mayors will visit the rejuvenated and expanded Shri Kashi Vishwanath Dham, apart from studying the Kashi's development.

On Friday morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually address the mayors to mark the beginning of their conference at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya-Trade Facility Centre (DDUTFC).

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Urban Development Minister Hardeep Puri will be present at the event.

Uttar Pradesh Urban Development Minister Ashutosh Tandon, said: "Over 100 mayors have sent their consent to visit Kashi to take part in the conference being organised by the urban development department in association with All India Mayor's Council. The Prime Minister will inaugurate the conference by addressing the mayors virtually. Before the beginning of this conference, the Chief Minister and the union urban development minister will inaugurate a three-day exhibition on the achievements of Uttar Pradesh Urban Development Department at DDUTFC."


He said that the "conference is being organised on the theme of 'New urban India'. A short film on urban opportunities and development in UP will also be screened in the beginning of the event".

The local administration, Varanasi Municipal Corporation and Smart City Varanasi will also screen the film on Kashi's development.

The mayors of Pune and Surat will give a presentation on clean India mission and AMRUT. Groups of five mayors will be formed and each group will take in group discussion on urban development issues and a presentation would be prepared on its outcomes," he added.


Tandon said that Kashi and his department have a long list of achievements on the urban development front to showcase in this event as well as exhibition.

The Department's performance has been outstanding in execution of urban housing, loan facilities for petty vendors under Swanidhi scheme, scheme of 'one city one operator' for sewage and sewage treatment plant management introduced in 13 major cities of Uttar Pradesh, bagging 18 Swachhata awards in different categories and others.

The arrival of mayors from different parts of country will begin on Thursday and in the evening, they will visit the DDU memorial at Padao from where they will go to Dashaswamedh Ghat to witness Ganga Aarti.

Later they will visit the KVD and offer prayers at the Kashi Vishwanath temple. -IANS