Lucknow, June 20 -- The Housing and Urban Planning Department has been designated as the nodal agency for the proposed Kashi-Vindhyan City Economic Region (CER), one of the economic regions selected by the Centre under its new urban development initiative. Principal secretary (Planning) Alok Kumar said the department would coordinate the implementation of the project, which is expected to involve investments of up to Rs.5,000 crore over the next five years. The Kashi-Vindhyan CER will cover about 23,000 sq km across seven districts, with Varanasi at its core and major impact on Mirzapur, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Bhadohi, Chandauli and Sonbhadra. The initiative aims to develop clusters of cities and surrounding areas as integrated economic zones rather than planning each city in isolation....