State Tourism Secretary Umakant Panwar on Saturday claimed that the Government had managed to execute 97 per cent of the work regarding Char Dham Yatra route and also said that remaining works would be completed in the next 48 hours. The Secretary also appealed to the people to participate in the yatra in a large number. The State Government was convinced that the mammoth footfalls during this pilgrimage would help the State to erase the negatives brought about by 2013’s disaster and bring things on the right tracks, he added.
The Tourism department would install six lEDs between Kedarnath to Rudraprayag on the pilgrimage route so as to ensure that the pilgrims get weather updates and those on the physical condition of the yatra route from time to time. Moreover, Rudrapryag district administration had made mobile apps with the same purpose.
Disaster Management Secretary R Meenakshisundaram said that they had disbursed Rs10 crore to the District Disaster Management Authority. Even they had given relaxation in procurement policy and the authority to the district magistrate to fix the wages of the labourers as well. With this, the execution of the work had gained pace. They were leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the pilgrims face no hassle during their pilgrimage. Even UREDA director directly supervised the works which are being executed by the departments concerned. BSNl tower has now become functional and private telecom operators are being persuaded to start their service there as well. Besides, they had released funds to Pithoragarh district administration, he added.
Hailing the works being done by Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM), Uttarkashi that is engaged in re-building the Kedarnath shrines, Meenakshisundaram said the work was going on in full swing in the most professional manner. The authorities would make sure that the work completed before the yatra started, he said. PWD Secretary Amit Negi said four divisions, including two of National Highway and PWD, were working hard and it would be completed the left-out works by April 20.
Negi also said they were not claiming that they had made entire stretch of the pilgrimage routes equal in quality to those of Dehradun. However, the stretch would prove far better than those that existed last year, he claimed. He appealed to the media to embark on the yatra to see things for themselves. They had also opened the stretch from Jankichatti to Yamunotri. To ensure sanitation on the way of the char dham pilgrimage, Sulabh International was working hard and they would complete 90 per cent of the work by April 20. The Chief Engineer has been placed in Uttarakashi and 1400 equipments, including Dozer, JCB and Tippers, have been pressed into operation along char dham yatra route. As far Shirobagad and lambagad, where landslide are continuously occurring, we are trying to construct bypasses. Irrigation department is working at lambagad. We have floated Rs 91 crore project to build the bypass.
Panawar further said Rudraprayag district magistrate was making best use of the IT en route for Kedarnath. Now, the State Government was going to ask ADB to sanction project worth Rs20 crore. Through it, the department would be able to go for online tracking system of the pilgrims and their vehicles as well. Under it, the department would introduce mobile apps. The apps will be installed at the entrance of the char dham by next year. With this, the State Government would be able to track individual pilgrims and help them to feel fully secure, he said.