With Uttarakhand battling hard to come to terms with heavy rain, efforts to set up disaster-proof fabricated huts along the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage route in fragile Himalayan terrain in Pithoragarh to ensure a safer journey to the pilgrims has suffered a setback.Notably, the aforesaid pilgrimage has almost crossed half way mark since it commenced on June 12. It is scheduled to end in September. However, so far four such environmental-friendly and safer fabricated huts have been set up along the said pilgrimage route in Pithoragarh.According to the officials concerned of the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN), about 50 fabricated huts would be set up along the route in Pithoragarh’s upper Himalayan region.
Since KMVN runs tourism activities apart from dealing with hospitality of the aforesaid pilgrimage, the responsibility of setting up the fabricated huts rests with them. However, with weather coming in the way, it is unlikely that things would be completed as per the deadline-2016. Besides, the migration of people from this Himalayan border district because of the extreme cold climate may delay things, said many a elderly person of the region.The traditional Uttarakhand Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage route is considered to be vulnerable to natural disasters as it passes through the same geographically tough Himalayan landscape that witnessed a devastating earthquake in Nepal this summer.