Ahmedabad: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Friday announced that a 500-metre area surrounding the famous pilgrimage sites of Somnath temple  will in Saurashtra and Ambaji temple in north Gujarat will be ‘Veg Zone’.

In a gathering in Palanpur in Banaskantha district, Rupani declared the  500-metre area surrounding the pilgrimage places as ‘Veg Zone’. As per this declartion, non-vegetarian food, such as meat and chicken, cannot be sold near the premises of these two temples. She said, "I hereby declare a 500-metre area surrounding the pilgrimage places -- Somnath and Ambaji -- as vegetarian zones. From now on, there will be a total ban on selling non-vegetarian food in these areas.”

As per the reprots, several religious outfits and the residents of these pilgrimage centres had been demanding such a measure since long. Both the temples are top religious sites for Hindus, attracting pilgrims from all over the country as well as abroad.