Questions remain on heritage path to Dandi

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday announced that the route of the historic Dandi yatra, from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad to Dandi in Navsari district, would be developed as a heritage path.

But no one knows what the heritage path means, how it would be developed, how and when would the project be implemented, and when would it be completed. Yet there is no dearth of people who welcome the concept.

"Mahatma Gandhi's ideals are the guiding light for us. We welcome the announcement to convert the route of the Dandi yatra into a heritage path, as the idea behind the concept is to provide the guiding light to the coming generations," Kadir Pirzada, vice-president, Gujarat Congress Committee, told Business Standard.

"The roads across most part of the route of the Dandi yatra are very narrow. Converting the route into a heritage path means widening and improving the roads. In addition to the roads, all those places where Mahatma Gandhi stayed during the yatra in 1930, would be developed as heritage spots, and converted into important points along the path," he added.

Surat City Congress president Sunil Bhukhanwala, said, "Heritage path is a new term for me, and I do not know what the government wants to do. We still welcome the idea as it would mean promoting Gandhian ideals, which are very much required in today's age."

In response to a query, Bhukhanwala said, "I believe the government would mainly try to improve the condition of the route of the Dandi yatra. Building a new road to connect Sabarmati Ashram and Dandi, which are almost 400 km apart, appears highly unlikely, as it would involve expenditure of hundreds of crores of rupees."

The officials of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) also do not have much of a clue about the concept.

"The announcement regarding the heritage path was made just yesterday. It is not yet clear whether NHAI would carry out of the project, or whether the work would be handed over to the public works department (PWD). We are waiting for further details," D P Kurmi, project manager, NHAI, Valsad, said.

A PWD officer expressed a similar opinion. "Though things are not very clear, we believe the government's intention is to upgrade the entire route of the Dandi yatra. The roads would be improved by widening and strengthening, while at those places along the yatra route, where roads do not exist, the government would construct new roads," K B Patel, executive engineer, PWD, Navsari, said.

"Since the announcement was made by the prime minister, the heritage path project would be funded by the Central government," Patel said.

"The centre has two options - either it could ask the NHAI to undertake the project, or it could provide the funds to the state government. The state government could ask us, or some other department to carry out the work," he added.