Uttar Pradesh [Images] has agreed in principle to give up its claim over the Kumbh area in Haridwar in favour of Uttarakhand [Images], official sources said in Dehra Dun on Tuesday.

The consensus to handover the ownership rights of Kumbh area comprising Har-Ki-Pauri and VIP Ghat in Haridwar toUttarakhand was arrived during a meeting of top officials of the two states in the presence of Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta in New Delhi [Images].

From Uttarakhand side, Chief Secretary I K Pande and from Uttar Pradesh its chief secretary Atul Gupta took part in the meeting, which was held last week.

Pande said following the last week meeting, the Uttar Pradesh government would shortly issue formal orders to transfer the Kumbh Mela area to Uttarakhand.

Significantly, the move came ahead of the forthcoming Kumbh Mela in 2010 at Haridwar after a gap of 12 years as a sea of humanity is expected to take dip in the holy river Ganga. The last Kumbh Mela was held in 1998 at Haridwar.

Buoyed by the new move, the state government is now gearing up to start development works in the Kumbh area, which was being hampered due to the claim of Uttar Pradesh.