To fast track its plan of readying an alternate route to the Kailash Mansarovar — a pilgrimage for Hindus, Jains and Buddhists — the Government has sent a team to study the project design and viability.
Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced his plans of opening up a second route for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra after his meeting with the visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping .
Acting on the announcement, Ministry of Roads, Transport and Highways (MoRTH), which also received a written communication from the PM office, has sent a team to prepare a detailed project report on an alternate motorable route to Kailash Mansarovar.
“Currently, there is a trek route, where a 22-day trek is conducted for pilgrims by Ministry of External Affairs with assistance from Border Roads Organisation under the Ministry of Defence but it is in a bad shape. Every spell of rain washes away portions of the route, creating road blocks forcing the Government to terminate the treks,” said the official.
“The Government is keen on building a concrete route to make the journey to the pilgrimage easy. Once an in-principle agreement is signed between the two countries, we will begin the construction. Right now, we have only dispatched a team to study the topography and chart out a possible road map,” said the official.
The official said that the team will also have to select suitable tracts for alignments and there after a cost estimate proposal would be sent to the PMO for approval.
“The project is at a conceptual stage and will require a lot of work. Even after the project report is made, several high level clearances will be required,” said the official adding “But once the project comes through, it will be an asset for Uttarakhand as it will provide a huge push to tourism.”
Mansarovar lake and the flanking Mount Kailash, which is the highest mountain in Tibet at 22,022 feet, are revered by Hindus as the abode of their God Shiva. Buddhists believe that the mount Kailash is home of Buddha Demchok, who represents supreme bliss god and for Jains, Kailash, is the site where the first Jain Tirthankara achieved Nirvana.