Uttarakhand spends Rs 150 cr to improve facilities for Nanda Raj Jat Yatra

The Uttarakhand government has spent Rs 150 crore on infrastructure to improve the facilities along the famous 280-km Nanda Raj Jat Yatra in the state, Chief Minister Harish Rawat has said.

The chief minister said the state government is providing all possible help for the smooth arrangements of the three-week-long yatra, which started from Nauti village in Chamoli district on August 18. The yatra is organised every 12 years and passes through places such as Roopkund lake, which is famous for thousands of skeletons scattered around it.

A high-powered committee headed by the chief minister has also been set up to prepare the report on these facilities and find ways to preserve them for the future.

The yatra has not faced any inclement weather conditions so far, senior government officials said. Before the commencement of the yatra, Rawat had asked the administration and related agencies to make necessary arrangements at the five uninhabited halts in the upper Himalayas for the pilgrims' convenience from August 30 onwards. The chief minister reviewed the arrangements of the Nanda Raj Jaat Yatra at the Bijapur Guest house here on Tuesday.

Rawat said it was for the first time that the arrangements are being made to cater to the essential needs of the pilgrims at the uninhabited halts of the Nanda Devi Raj Jat Yatra in the higher reaches of Garhwal and Kumaon hills.

He said if there is any suggestion related to these arrangements, it will certainly be considered.