Guest guest Posted March 14, 2009 Report Share Posted March 14, 2009 Sai Baba Trust gives facelift to pilgrim city Shirdi Indo Asian News Service Last Updated: May 25, 2008 01:35:04 http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/business/sai-baba-trust-gives-facelift-to-pilgrim-city-shirdi_10052497.html Shirdi (Maharashtra), May 25 (IANS) Roads, a hospital, an electricity generation project...a trust run in the name of 20th century saint Shri Sai Baba is changing the face of this pilgrim town by initiating development works and giving his philosophy of serving people a whole new meaning. Jayant Sasane, president of the Shri Sai Baba Sansthan Trust, told IANS: 'We want to give Shirdi a new look. Everyone knows about Sai Baba's wishes to serve. Today the Sai Temple has become one of the most popular destinations among pilgrims in India. On an average, 50,000 people visit Shirdi daily, and during holidays the rush is even more. Shirdi is about 300 km from Mumbai. But unlike most religious towns, Shirdi has more to it than the holy shrine. The Shri Sai Baba Sansthan Trust responsible for the maintenance of the temple wants to ensure prosperity of the whole town along with the growing opulence of the temple. In line with his thinking, the trust has started a super-specialty hospital at a cost of Rs.400 million with a capacity of 205 beds. The hospital has all the latest medical equipment. Patients are operated here with the help of state-of-the-art machinery. Within a year and a half since its inception, the hospital has conducted more than 5,000 surgeries, out of which 1,000 are bypass surgeries - 400 of them for patients the below poverty line under the government's Jeevan Dayani Scheme. The trust, with the help of Sulzan Energy Ltd, Pune, has also come up with its own windmill project at Bhoyre Pachhar in Ahmednagar district at a cost of Rs.150 million. With a capacity of 2.5 MW, this project will make Shirdi completely energy self-sufficient. Mohan Yadav, public relations officer of the trust, told IANS: The other major project of the trust is the construction of new roadways. The Sansthan wants to change the entire face of Shirdi. The total cost of the project is Rs.1,250 million, which when completed will change the entire map of Shirdi. An agreement has been signed with the Maharashtra State Development Board for the development of 25 roads within Shirdi and also connecting Shirdi city. In the first stage, the project will cost Rs.650 million for 11 roads. The other major project scheduled to be completed by July this year is the new prasadalaya or dining hall.. Built on seven acres of land it will accommodate 6,000 devotees at one go, perhaps making it the biggest dinning hall in Asia. According to Sasane, most of the cooking will be solar cooking using ultra modern appliances, giving hygiene primary importance. The Sansthan spends Rs.300 million annually to feed devotees. The prasadalaya was recently inaugurated by President Pratibha Patil. A Sai devotee from Chennai, K.V. Ramani, has donated Rs.1 billion for a bhaktiniwas - it is the biggest donation in the history of the trust. The lodge on completion will accommodate 16,000 devotees,added Sasane. Education is another area which the Sansthan has been laying emphasis on. The trust runs the Industrial Training Institute which is considered one of the best in Maharashtra, said Yadav. © Copyright 2008 Indo Asian News Service. Rs.200 Crore development plan for Shirdi http://20twentytwo.blogspot.com/2008/07/rs200-crore-development-plan-for-shirdi.html The Maharashtra state government has formed the Shirdi Development Authority to recast the Shirdi township on the lines of Tirupati. Infrastructure projects valued at Rs 200 crore in the temple town were cleared by the chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.The makeover plan includes the construction of a mall.The projects will be sponsored by the Shirdi Saibaba Sansthan Trust and the work was held up as the state law and judiciary department had raised objections. The L & JD department had said that Shirdi temple had a trust and could not fund infraprojects. Setting aside the issues raised by the legal mandarins, Deshmukh cleared the project. The earlier tenders issued by MSRDC, the implementing agency of these projects, had lapsed due to the L & JD’s objections.MSRDC’s managing director Satish Gavai said, ‘‘We will construct skywalks, footpaths, pedestrian pathways, multi-layer parking lots, ring roads and a bypass road for traffic, which will facilitate pilgrims.’’ MSRDC’s chief engineer Subhash Nage said nine gardens will come up in and around Shirdi. The multi-layer car park will be at least ten levels high and the skywalk around the temple will be around 6 km in length. Pedestrian pathways will be constructed around Pimpalgaon Road, ZP Road and Dwarkamai Road.Deshmukh said the project will give a further boost to the development of the holy town which is visited by lakhs of devotees every week. Last weekend alone, eight lakh devotees visited the temple.The MSRDC will widen and reconstruct around 25 kms of road in and around the town. At present, motorists have to use the Manmad-Ahmednagar road to travel to Shirdi. The bypass will reduce vehicular traffic in Shirdi. Sai Baba Trust gives facelift to pilgrim city Shirdi May 25th, 2008 - 12:19 pm ICT by admin By V. Vijayalakshmi http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/business/sai-baba-trust-gives-facelift-to-pilgrim-city-shirdi_10052497.html Shirdi (Maharashtra), May 25 (IANS) Roads, a hospital, an electricity generation project…a trust run in the name of 20th century saint Shri Sai Baba is changing the face of this pilgrim town by initiating development works and giving his philosophy of serving people a whole new meaning. Jayant Sasane, president of the Shri Sai Baba Sansthan Trust, told IANS: “We want to give Shirdi a new look. Everyone knows about Sai Baba’s wishes to serve.†Today the Sai Temple has become one of the most popular destinations among pilgrims in India. On an average, 50,000 people visit Shirdi daily, and during holidays the rush is even more. Shirdi is about 300 km from Mumbai. But unlike most religious towns, Shirdi has more to it than the holy shrine. The Shri Sai Baba Sansthan Trust responsible for the maintenance of the temple wants to ensure prosperity of the whole town along with the growing opulence of the temple. “In line with his thinking, the trust has started a super-specialty hospital at a cost of Rs.400 million with a capacity of 205 beds. The hospital has all the latest medical equipment. Patients are operated here with the help of state-of-the-art machinery.†Within a year and a half since its inception, the hospital has conducted more than 5,000 surgeries, out of which 1,000 are bypass surgeries - 400 of them for patients the below poverty line under the government’s Jeevan Dayani Scheme. The trust, with the help of Sulzan Energy Ltd, Pune, has also come up with its own windmill project at Bhoyre Pachhar in Ahmednagar district at a cost of Rs.150 million. With a capacity of 2.5 MW, this project will make Shirdi completely energy self-sufficient. Mohan Yadav, public relations officer of the trust, told IANS: “The other major project of the trust is the construction of new roadways. The Sansthan wants to change the entire face of Shirdi. The total cost of the project is Rs.1,250 million, which when completed will change the entire map of Shirdi.†An agreement has been signed with the Maharashtra State Development Board for the development of 25 roads within Shirdi and also connecting Shirdi city. In the first stage, the project will cost Rs.650 million for 11 roads. The other major project scheduled to be completed by July this year is the new ‘prasadalaya’ or dining hall. Built on seven acres of land it will accommodate 6,000 devotees at one go, perhaps making it the biggest dinning hall in Asia. According to Sasane, most of the cooking will be solar cooking using ultra modern appliances, giving hygiene primary importance. The Sansthan spends Rs.300 million annually to feed devotees. The prasadalaya was recently inaugurated by President Pratibha Patil. It was on a Dussehra day in 1918 when Shri Sai Baba took samadhi here. Ever since, thousands of devotees have been turning up in Shirdi daily irrespective of their religion. “A Sai devotee from Chennai, K.V. Ramani, has donated Rs.1 billion for a bhaktiniwas - it is the biggest donation in the history of the trust. The lodge on completion will accommodate 16,000 devotees,†added Sasane. “Education is another area which the Sansthan has been laying emphasis on. The trust runs the Industrial Training Institute which is considered one of the best in Maharashtra,†said Yadav. Sai Baba`s Treat - By Santosh Andhale Posted On Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 03:58:06 AM in www.punemirror.in The Shirdi Sai Sansthan (SSS), the second richest shrine board in India, is planning a bonanza for Sai devotees in its centenary year for Sai Baba’s Palki. For one, there will soon be direct train services, and an airport near Shirdi is on the cards. What’s more, devotees in Mumbai will now be able to get darshan passes from the Sansthan’s Mumbai office, which means they need not stand in the long queue at the temple any more. There will also be an 18-storey Sai Tower built in place of its office at Dadar, where Sai devotees will get all Saibaba-related material under one roof. Outstation devotees can stay here before they embark on their journey to Shirdi. The trust is also planning shelters for devotees at Katara in Jammu and at Tirupati.Sai Tower For outstation devotees wondering where to stay in Mumbai en route to Shirdi, the Sansthan’s Mumbai office at Khodadad Circle, Dadar, is planning an 18-storey tower. The new building will have a spacious community hall, which will be used for educational, medical and other activities. “We are still discussing things with existing tenants. Most of them are ready to have the property redeveloped. We may start work within three-four months,†said Jayant Sasane. Tenants on the property will be given flats in the newly built tower, while the rest of the place will be used for social activities in general public interest. Jammu, Tirupati shelters While its devotees stopping over in Mumbai will be taken care of, the Sansthan is also planning apartments at Tirupati for Balaji devotees and at Katara-Jammu for Vaisnodevi devotees. This is to facilitate devotees from Maharashtra visiting these places. These apartments will come at a cost of Rs 10 crore each. “We will construct the building for devotees who come from Maharashtra. For accommodation, devotees will have to register their names at our Mumbai office and Shirdi temple office, where we can also issue them darshan passes,†said Sasane.Beautifying Shirdi A few months ago, the state government announced the formation of the Shirdi Development Authority (SDA) to develop infrastructure in the holy town. That means, Shirdi will have wider roads, skywalks to avoid crowding, lodging, multi-level car parking, gardens and medical facilities. Sasane said infrastructure development in Shirdi was necessary as it was a popular holy place and devotees from both within the country and abroad visited the place. The chairman of this authority will be the Chief Minister. Several top government officials will also be part of the body along with members from the Shirdi Sai Sansthan. " A LOT OF KNEELING WILL KEEP YOU IN GOOD STANDING." All Kneel - Rohit Behal Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Invite them now. 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