Chief Minister Harish Rawat has directed senior officials concerned to ensure that alertness is maintained along the Char Dham Yatra circuit. He has stressed that pilgrims should not face any inconvenience under any circumstances. The Chief Minister said this while chairing a meet to review Char Dham Yatra facilities at the Bijapur guest house here on Monday.
At the start of the meeting, the Chief Minister congratulated the officials involved in the yatra preparations for the successful start of the pilgrimage. Stressing on the need for maintaining alertness on pilgrimage route, the CM stressed that ensuring the safety of the pilgrims is the topmost priority of the State Government.
Rawat directed that facilitation of alternate routes be considered for sites where land subsidence is being experienced on recurring basis. JCBs should be deployed on both sides of the stretches of National Highway-58 to Badrinath where traffic is disrupted more often. The shelters should also be constructed for pilgrims on the route to Kedarnath, directed the Chief Minister.
He further instructed that 100 shops should also be prepared on the route to Kedarnath. Stating that the number of pilgrim arrivals for the Char Dham Yatra is quite encouraging, Rawat said that registration of pilgrims and organisation of health camps should be facilitated more efficiently. He also directed that an inter-communication system be developed so that the administration remains in possession of complete data on pilgrims travelling from one of the Char Dham shrines to another.
The display boards should be erected along the yatra routes so that the pilgrims are able to know about various tourist attractions in the State. The CM also directed officials to prepare a work plan for encouraging sports activities in the mountainous regions of the State during the winter season. He further said the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) should be made more active on the Char Dham Yatra circuit.
Apart from the Char Dham shrines, other pilgrimage centres and tourist attractions should also be developed, he stressed. Chief Secretary N Ravishankar, Additional Chief Secretary Rakesh Sharma, director general of police BS Sidhu, principal secretary S Ramaswami, PWD secretary Amit Negi, Disaster Management secretary R Meenakshi Sundaram, Home secretary Vinod Sharma were also present in the meeting.