LUCKNOW, Aug. 1 -- Amid increasing demand for residential plots and houses in Ayodhya, a township has been planned for the temple town on the Ayodhya-Basti highway. The mega project will come up on 107-hectare land with a corpus of Rs 300 crore. The Ayodhya Development Authority (ADA) has approved the project and sent it to the state government for approval. After the state cabinet's nod, the ADA will get 50 percent of the fund earmarked for the project. The development authority has already begun the survey work for acquiring land from farmers. The ADA staff is carrying out the survey work in Ridhaura village in Harraiya tehsil of Basti district. According to ADA officials, the township will have both residential and commercial plots and all amenities. As the new township will be only five kilometres from the Ram temple, the project is expected to get an overwhelming response. It will also have a school, a hospital and a police outpost along with other amenities. According to ADA vice chairman Ashwani Pandey, the proposal for the new township has been forwarded to the state government for approval. The ADA will expedite the process to acquire land from farmers after the project gets a nod from the state government. The land will only be acquired through mutual consent from farmers.After construction of Ram temple began in Ayodhya on August 5, 2020, demand for land has gone up manifold in the temple town. The demand went up further after the grand opening ceremony of the Ram temple on January 22, 2024. Already approved by the state government and underway, the New Ayodhya Township or the Greenfield Township spans across 1407 acres on both sides of the Lucknow-Gorakhpur highway. Ayodhya will see massive expansion of 873 sqaure km under phase -2 of the Ayodhya Master Plan- 2031 by including 343 villages from Ayodhya, Basti and Gonda districts. Ayodhya's boundaries will now encroach upon villages in adjoining Basti and Gonda districts. According to the ADA, the phase -2 of the Master Plan 2031 covers 873 square kilometre, including Ayodhya Nagar Nigam, Nagar Panchayat Bhadarsa and Nagar Palika Parishad Nawabganj (Gonda), along with 154 villages from Ayodhya, 126 from Basti and 63 from Gonda. Ashwini Pandey, vice chairman, ADA, the plan has been prepared by taking into account the estimated population of Ayodhya in 2031 which is likely to be 14 lakh....