The Uttarakhand government may have decided to resume the yatra to the famed Himalayan shrines of Kedarnath and Badrinath in Garhwal region from October 5, but the pilgrimage is not going to be an easy journey, owing to bad road conditions.
Though the government is claiming that it would provide food, water and medical facilities to pilgrims on the yatra route, top officials here admitted that the journey would not be smooth for the pilgrims, especially the 25 km arduous trek to the eighth century Kedarnath shrine. The normal 14 km trek to Kedarnath has now been lengthened to 25 km from Sonprayag after the June disaster that damaged most of the trek and a big stretch of the highway. Similarly, the road connectivity to Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines has also not improved.
But the government is claiming that the damaged roads would be repaired by October.
Arrangements are also being made to start chopper service to Kedarnath from October 5. Chopper service will be available for Kedarnath from Dehradun, officials said.
On the other hand, there are political overtones, too, to the religious yatra. A day before the yatra resumes, Union Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat will also undertake the Kedarnath yatra, the permission for which has been granted by Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna. Both Bahuguna and Rawat, who are political rivals, have reached a truce and shared a platform during a rally at Rudrapur on Sunday.
The government had earlier planned to resume the Kedarnath yatra on Tuesday, but due to bad road connectivity, the yatra plans were deferred following a high-level meeting at the secretariat here on Monday. The meeting was convened to take a stock of the progress made after the June 16-17 deluge.
There had been criticism in various quarters about the poor arrangements on the yatra route of Kedarnath and Badrinath shrines. “By October five, all the necessary arrangements regarding the smooth conduct of the yatra to Badrinath and Kedarnath will be made,” said Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar.
Another reason for resuming the yatra on Navratras was the criticism made by senior Congress leader Satpal Maharaj recently for resuming puja at Kedarnath on September 11, which he said was not an auspicious day. Maharaj, a top Hindu godman, wanted the government to resume yatra in Navratras only.
The meeting also decided that the yatra will be conducted in a controlled way where the permission will be granted to only 200 pilgrims per day to Kedarnath shrine. All the pilgrims will undergo a medical check before embarking on the pilgrimage, the statement said.
The government last week had thrown open the doors of Gangotri shrine open for pilgrims.
