Cooch Behar, Oct. 25: The Debottar Trust Board that looks after the religious properties of the erstwhile Cooch Behar princes has decided to construct a four-storied building and lease out two waterbodies for pisciculture to augment the revenue of the management.

The trust will also raise the rates for puja at the Madan Mohan temple here from the next month.

Apart from the Madan Mohan temple, two shrines in Uttar Pradesh — one dedicated to Goddess Kali in Varanasi and the other to Lord Krishna in Vrindavan — are also under the custody of the trust that is managed by the Cooch Behar district administration.

The subdivisional officer (headquarters), Bikash Saha, who is a member of the trust, said the four-storied building would come up adjacent to the Madan Mohan temple, just opposite Jenkins School.

“The construction will be on a 15 cottah plot where the quarters of the temple gardeners stand now. We will have a shopping centre on the ground floor. The first floor will be rented out to offices or banks. The top two floors will be a guesthouse. We will lease out the rooms to people who come for treatment here,” said Saha.

Sources said the quarters of the temple gardeners — made of tin and plastic —would be dismantled and they would be accommodated elsewhere.

The Madan Mohan temple was constructed by Maharaja Nripendra Narayan in 1890.

Saha said the trust had already built a 12-bed boarding facility at Vrindavan.

“We have taken up a series of projects in and outside Cooch Behar. The construction of a 12-bedded guesthouse is over at Vrindavan where the board runs a Krishna temple. People from this district can stay in the Vrindavan guest house for Rs 50 a night. For others, the charge is Rs 100 a night. The building was inaugurated on October 18,” Saha said.

To augment its revenue, the trust is also leasing out its two waterbodies here.

“We have already leased out the waterbody at Dangraidighi, 2km from the Madan Mohan temple, for fish rearing. The trust will also take over Bairagi Dighi from the fisheries department and lease it out for pisciculture to enhance the earnings,” said Saha.

The SDO also said a decision had been taken to raise the rates for offering puja at the Madan Mohan temple.

“The puja rates have remained the same for 13 years. Till now, Rs 351 was being charged for getting private and commercial vehicles blessed at the temple. The rates will now be Rs 500 for private cars and Rs 750 for commercial vehicles. Weddings were charged Rs 201 and the new rate will be Rs 501. We will, however, provide a flat 50 per cent discount to people living blow the poverty line for the puja,” said Saha.