Various infrastructural and other arrangements will be facilitated for the Nanda Devi lok Jat (annual) Yatras to be held from September 7 to 28.
These facilities will also help boost tourism in the mountainous regions, said Vidhan Sabha deputy speaker and Yatra implementation committee head Anusuya Prasad Maikhuri.
Addressing the media here on Friday, Maikhuri said that between September 7 and 28, three annual yatras of Nanda Devi will be held in the Chamoli district.
These will include the first stage Yatra of Nanda of Siddhpeeth Kurud from Badhan to Devrada via Bednikund, from Kurud to Valapata and back and to Nandikund and back.
The second stage of the Yatra of Badhan’s Nanda from Devrada to Kurud will be held six months later. He informed that the Chamoli district magistrate has provided work proposals from various departments and submitted these to the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board CEO for development of necessary infrastructural facilities at the uninhabited stretches of the Yatra routes.
Proposals to be received from other departments will also be submitted to the UTDB. Replying to question on whether the authorities will prevent inappropriate behavior like dumping of empty liquor bottles and garbage by participants in ecologically sensitive and spiritually important locations along the Yatra route as seen during the Raj Jat, Maikhuri said that the focus will also be on prevention any such activities while preserving the native culture.
He said that Chief Minister Harish Rawat believed that improving the management of such annual yatras will not only boost tourism but also prove beneficial for the Nanda Devi Raj Jat Yatra held once every 12 years.
After the successful completion of the Raj Jat last year, the CM had said that basic facilities will be developed for the annual Yatras held in the region. The CM asked Nanda Devi Raj Jat development council, Chamoli district administration and Tourism department to draft a plan for facilitating this. Maikhuri chaired three meetings with departmental officials and the district administration.
On Thursday, Maikhuri and the council coordinator Bhuwan Nautiyal called on Chief Minister Harish Rawat to invite him to the annual Yatra. They also requested him to ensure timely release of funds for development of basic facilities on the Nanda Devi Yatra route.