Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna assures resumption of pujas 'soon' amidst challenges at Uttarakhand

Amidst the challenge of cleaning huge amounts of debris in calamity-struck areas of Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna visited the Kedarnath Temple on Monday. After his visit to the shrine, he told mediapersons that the temple is safe, restoration activities are on in full swing and development plans for the area are presently being prepared.

Accompanied by state chief secretary Subhash Kumar and officials of Engineers (India) Projects Limited (EIPL), ASI and GSI, Bahuguna arrived at the shrine this morning to evaluate the progress made in cleaning the debris in the area. Methods to build a helipad in the area to accommodate MI26 choppers commissioned to transport heavy equipment like bulldozers, JCBs and powerful stone cutting tools to the Kedar Valley were also discussed.

Bahuguna assured devotees that the temple was safe saying, "I would like to assure all the devotees that the temple is safe, I have seen it myself. It will not be long before pujas(religious ceremonies) resume at the temple." However, he said he would not be able to put a date on the resumption of prayers at the temple.

Speaking on restoration plans, Bahuguna said that there would be separate routes to approach and descend from the temple. Additionally the development plans crucially focus around disaster mitigation by establishing strong evacuation plans, Bahuguna said here today.

The present challenges for the EIPL and the state government include weather and lack of electricity in the valley. The authorities have only one and half months' time left to complete the exercise as the possibility of snowfall beginning in the area from September may halt the operations midway through.

Bahuguna also announced that a memorial would be built in remembrance of the thousands of lives that were lost in the natural calamity of Uttarakhand.