U'khand govt asks officials to speed-up restoration work at Kedarnath

The Uttarakhand government has asked the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) to quickly resume restoration work along the banks of Saraswati river near Kedarnath, an official said today.

The restoration work was stalled due to bad weather recently.

The government asked officials to make all arrangements before the start of the Chardham yatra season next month to ensure the safety of pilgrims.

"Providing better facilities to devotees from around the country and abroad during the Chardham yatra is the state government's priority. All arrangements should be made with the proximity of the start of the yatra season in mind," Chief Secretary Utpal Kumar Singh told officials.

Chardham yatra is scheduled to begin on April 18 with the opening of the Himalayan shrines of Gangotri and Yamunotri on the auspicious occasion of Akshay Tritiya. The portals of Kedarnath and Badrinath will be open on April 29 and April 30 respectively.

Directing NIM officials to restart work on Saraswati ghat that was stopped due to inclement weather recently, the Chief Secretary asked them to ensure that work along the pathway from the bank of the river up to MI 26 helipad is completed well in time.

In addition to this, he directed the officials to make sure the debris is cleared from the platform around the ghat and carry out the beautification exercise.

Singh gave the electricity department officials one week's time to remove poles from near the temple as start of the yatra season was drawing near.

The Chief Secretary instructed the officials to construct safety wall on both sides of the path from Kedarnath temple gate to the circle point.

He instructed the Mandir Samiti to beautify the path from the Himalayan temple to the ghats meant for pedestrians with decorative lights so that it looks attractive during any VIP movement.

He also directed the PWD department to carry out a beautification drive at Uddhav Kund.

He directed NIM official to complete the beautification work behind the temple besides asking forest officials to prohibit goat and sheep herders from entering into the temple area so that the plants of Brahmkamal, the state flower, and various herbs growing there could be conserved.

Reconstruction projects around Kedarnath, which bore the brunt of the devastating floods in Uttarakhand in 2013, are among the priorities of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who keeps monitoring their progress personally.