The glory of Shri Kedarnath temple must be maintained while reconstructing and rehabilitating Kedarnath. The work of reconstruction must be done in a scientific manner,” said Chief Minister Harish Rawat during the Phase II meeting held to plan the reconstruction of Kedarnath temple and also asserted that all the work should be completed before the Yatra commences next year. “Thus, deadlines should be met. Millions of devotees are deeply associated to the temple so you keep this in mind while preparing a plan to rebuild the area,” he added.
In order to carry out the reconstruction work with foresight and objectively, a resettlement commission headed by a retired judge will be constituted. The CM further directed to take advise from the priests for their rehabilitation and to ensure their interests as well as reasonable demands. “The Kedarnath temple should be developed in a manner that the devotees and pilgrims face no problems. A drainage system must be developed between Mandakani river and Saraswati river with complete planning. The temple must be protected by a three level wall,” CM stated. With the help of GSI, bidding will be done at international level for consultancy. He added that no excuse will be accepted for the safety of Kedarnath Dham.
The project plan will be designed in manner that the temple can be seen clearly even from a distance. He added that it is important for safety that there should be no obstruction on the passage between the entrance bridge and the temple. Talks should be held with the Purohits to consider rehabilitating them in the remaining land. No construction should be carried out at the back of the temple.
A river training project of a permanent nature will be made and it will be aimed to tackle the flush flood which had hit the temple last year. He asked the irrigation department to start developing of ‘Ghats’.
The CM instructed to develop the area from Chhota lincholi to ‘bada lincholi’ as an alternate for Raambada and if any land owner on way to Kedarnath wishes to start a restaurant, dhaba, hotel or any other business related work, then the officials must facilitate them by providing benefits of Government’s programmes. “The route from Gaurikund to Kedarnath route must be widened as soon as possible. Arrangements for solid waste management must be done at various areas. To avoid obstruction of routes due to heavy snowfall, snow blowers must be purchased,” he instructed.
Present in the meeting were Advisor Indukumar Pandey, Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar, Additional Secretary Rakesh Sharma, Principal Secretary SS Sandhu, Secretary Bhaskaranand, Mohommad Shahid, Amit Negi, DM Rudraprayag Dr Raghav Singh langar and other officers.