Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Chief Minister Mohan Yadav flagged off a train carrying the first batch of 1,100 devotees to Somnath from Rani Kamlapati Railway Station on Thursday under the Somnath Swabhiman Parv initiative.
The yatra departed for Somnath in Gujarat with pilgrims from the Bhopal and Ujjain divisions of Madhya Pradesh for the darshan of Lord Somnath.
Yadav said the Somnath temple represented the revival of faith after periods of invasions and cultural challenges.
He also highlighted the rise in religious tourism and said the state government was actively developing pilgrimage destinations and improving connectivity through initiatives such as helicopter services.
“Earlier, Ujjain used to receive around 25,000 to 30,000 visitors annually, but now nearly 1.5 lakh devotees visit every day,” he said.
CM inaugurates Atal Bhawan, outlines metro vision for Bhopal
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Thursday inaugurated the Rs 73-crore headquarters of the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC), named Atal Bhawan, at Tulsi Nagar. He also inaugurated a Rs 45-crore solar power plant in Neemuch.
Addressing the gathering, Yadav said the state government was working to develop Bhopal into a metropolitan city as the capital continued to expand rapidly.
After formally inaugurating the building, the Chief Minister toured the newly constructed headquarters. He said the building would fulfil Bhopal’s long-term administrative requirements and enable all civic departments to function from a single location.
Targeting previous Congress governments, Yadav said farmers once struggled with power shortages, whereas Madhya Pradesh was now generating nearly 25,000 MW of electricity.
Mayor Malti Rai said electricity generated from the Neemuch solar plant would be supplied to the corporation at Rs 3.47 per unit for the next 25 years, significantly lower than the current Rs 6.14 per unit cost. This would help the civic body save nearly Rs 4 crore annually.
Key features of Atal Bhawan
Eight-storey green building spread across 2.15 lakh sq ft
Parking for 250 two-wheelers and 200 four-wheelers
Six elevators and three stairway sections
Two fire exits
Geo-thermal cooling system instead of conventional ACs
300 KW in-campus solar power plant
Kids Play area
Centralized counters
