Ayodhya, May 4 : A tent city will come up in Ayodhya to provide quality accommodation to pilgrims visiting the holy city after completion of the Ram temple.
To be set up on over 3.70 acre of land close to the temple complex along the Parikrama Marg near Brahma Kund gurudwara, the tent city will have at least 200 tents, each having an area of 250 sqft.
The Ayodhya Development Authority (ADA) has started the process of selecting experienced agencies for it. The tent city is expected to be completed by November.
As the Ram temple is expected to open for pilgrims in January next year, the development authority needs to quickly increase the number of quality rooms that can be provided to the tourists.
Vishal Singh, vice-chairman of the authority said, "Services equivalent to 2 or 3 starred hotels are going to be offered at the tent city."
Singh said no permanent structure will be set up while erecting the tents and the authority will seek the sewerage treatment and wastewater treatment plans of the operator in advance to rule out any shortcomings and possibility of environmental hazard.
Singh added that a vacant area measuring 15,000 square metres has been identified for the purpose. Officials said it will take 15 to 20 minutes to walk from the tent city to the temple complex.
According to estimates prepared by local administration, Ayodhya presently has 17 hotels which can offer close to 600 rooms. However, once the temple gets operational, on busy festival days and long weekends the city would need more than 5,000 rooms.
Earlier, tent cities have been set up in Prayagraj and Varanasi along the banks of the rivers to cater to the guests looking for quality stay options. In Lucknow too, a tent city was set up ahead of the global investors summit in February and turned out to be extremely popular among the visitors.
/IANS