Dhubri, Jan. 24: The Centre will provide Rs 50 crore to develop the Alokjhari area of Dhubri district into a pilgrimage and eco-tourism site centred around the Ma Mahamaya Dham.
Alokjhari is 40km from Dhubri town. Every year, lakhs of devotees from the Assam and Bengal throng the Ma Mahamaya temple, which is over 100 years old, during the weeklong religious celebrations in the month of Baisakh (April).
But there are hardly any amenities for the huge number of devotees who descend during the festival, said the working president of the Alokjhari Ma Mahamaya Dham Committee, Dhirendra Nath Roy.
Roy said the 10km stretch of road between the temple and Tamarhat is extremely dilapidated and several bridges surrounding the area also in a bad shape.
"In fact, no infrastructure, including accommodation for the steadily growing number of devotes and tourists, has been developed," Roy said.
Other committee members said there was ample scope to develop Alokjhari into a tourist spot because it is a beautiful and serene place.
Nature's Friend, an NGO of Dhubri district, has also been demanding that the place to be developed into an eco-tourism spot since 2008.
The NGO's director, Kulodhar Das, said Alokjhari reserve forest is rich in flora and fauna. It is home to leopards, deer, common langurs, jackals, peacocks, pythons and various species of birds and reptiles besides having 11 waterfalls, including the Thakurani, Taloya, Mosa, Bhaluk and Bostam. The Gadadhar river, which flows by the hillocks, adds to its beauty.
A team led by Golokganj BJP legislator Ashwani Roy Sarkar recently visited the place and met the people and office bearers of Alokjhari Ma Mahamaya Dham Committee.
"This place has the potential to be developed into a religious and eco-tourism spot because a huge number of pilgrims and devotees are drawn to the temple where a footprint, believed to be that of Parvati, is worshiped," said Dipak Kumar Saha, the BJP's Dhubri district unit president who accompanied Sarkar.
Saha said Sarkar visited Alokjhari with a team of engineers last week and a technical team was instructed by the MLA to prepare a detailed project report.
Funding of Rs 50 crore will come from the Centre as soon as the detailed project report is submitted, Saha added.
