Varanasi: The 300-year-old Annapurna temple’s ‘Annakshetras’ (food courts) reopened on Sunday, a day after shutting down for the first time due to an LPG shortage, restoring prasad services for pilgrims.“The district administration sprang into action, arranging LPG refills late Saturday and Sunday morning after learning the Annapurna temple’s kitchens had shut down due to a shortage. The kitchens of both units of the Annakshetra of this temple, with the capacity to cater Prasad to around 25,000 pilgrims, are not functioning at full capacity,” said temple mahant Shankar Giri.District magistrate Satyendra Kumar said that if the temple had alerted them, refills would have been arranged on time, avoiding the closure of ‘Annakshetras’. “We have asked all the mutts, temples, ashrams, gurukuls, residential universities, colleges, hospitals, orphanages, old age homes, and other places to keep the officials aware of their requirements. All these places are also being surveyed to give PNG connections on priority,” Kumar said.The two kitchens operated even during the lockdown induced by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. This was the first time the kitchens had shut down on Saturday morning. Around 3,000 pilgrims were fed before the kitchens closed on Saturday, but many seers heading to Ayodhya missed out.Giri also said that the survey to provide a PNG line connection to ‘Annakshetras’ and the school run by the temple has been completed.Meanwhile, UP minister (independent charge) Ravindra Jaiswal claimed that special camps are being organised at eight zonal offices of the city to help people apply for PNG connections and complete the process.Jaiswal inspected the special camp set up at the Varanasi Municipal Corporation zonal office in the Nadesar area. He stated that the govt intends to ensure safe and affordable gas facilities reach every household in the city.About 102 km of steel pipeline is already in place for high-pressure gas supply, forming the city’s main gas grid backbone. Plus, around 1,450 km of plastic pipeline has been laid for low-pressure supply to homes in and around the cityJaiswal said that the maximum number of people should avail the scheme. Directing the officials, he said that the gas connection should be completed within one week of receiving the application. GAIL officials informed that complaints regarding connection and supply can be made on helpline numbers 7268071339 and 9454535384.
