The once sleepy small wayside shanty town of Katra has come up as one of the busiest towns in the state with the potential of becoming a major city along modern lines in the picturesque foothills of Trikuta Mountain in Reasi district. All this has happened by the grace of the famous shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi, a place of pilgrimage to which more than a crore of pilgrims from all the four corners of the country come to pay their obeisance to the deity. One can imagine the brisk social and commercial activity that takes place in this town which is the base camp for ascent to the shrine atop the hills. Conscious of the expansion that this town will need in years to come, the SAC in its recent meeting has accorded nod to the Katra Master Plan – 2031. The Revised Master Plan of Katra would be covering a local area of 79.56 Sq Kms in comparison to the present 11.06 Sq Kms.
The Master Plan has been drawn with the vision of Katra becoming a very large, attractive and most popular city in the State with clear trend of emerging as a modern pilgrim city with all necessary amenities that it should have. Credit has to be given to the vision and farsightedness of the Shrine Board and the Governor in particular who is the Chairman of the Board. Needless to say that after connecting Katra by railway last year the chance of exploiting the potential of the town with extended area is bright. The Master Plan for Katra emanates from J&K Development Act, 1970 and Rule 13 of the J&K Development Authority Rules, 1976. It has to be reminded that before according nod to the Master Plan – 2031, the Shrine Board had made an announcement in public domain for suggestions and alterations in the Master Plan by the interested people in the civil society. Thus the suggestions received have also been incorporated into the final draft. The SAC has done commendable service to the people of the state by approving the grand Master Plan which is bound to give entirely new shape to the town of Katra and its suburban areas that fall under the jurisdiction of the Plan.
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