Uncertainty continues over resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage as the Government of India has not yet responded to the request of the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN) which looks after the hospitality aspect of this ‘yatra’, to grant air transport facility to resume the aforesaid pilgrimage.
The KMVN had earlier written a letter to the Ministry of External Affairs urging the Government of India to provide air services at least from Didihat to Gunji in Pithoragrah so that pilgrims a few batch of the pilgrims could go on the pilgrimage. But we have so far not received any information from the Government of India in his regard, said D K Sharma, Divisional Manager, KMVN, while talking to The Pioneer.
We are of the view that the Ministry of External Affairs is in touch with the Chinese authorities over resumption of this pilgrimage. Therefore, we are just waiting for the Government’s reply in this regard, he added. As last year the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage continued till September 25, so this year too, in case the Government agrees to extend the air transport facility as we have demanded, a few batches of pilgrims could go on the pilgrimage, Sharma expressed hope. But it is now upto the Government of India to decide, he added.
It may be recalled that on account of poor road conditions due to heavy rainfall, this year the famous Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage had to be cancelled midway in June. Thus only one batch of pilgrims could complete the ‘yatra’, while the second batch which was on the way to the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage had to return back from Almora as the Government had to cancel the said pilgrimage due to poor road connectivity coupled with adverse weather conditions in mid June.
It is worth mentioning here that the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage began this year from New Delhi on June 12 and this ‘yatra’ had to be initially suspended when the second batch could not move beyond Almora on way to the Kailash Mansarovar due to bad weather conditions for four days since July 16. And this ‘yatra’ had to be finally cancelled when weather conditions did not show any improvement for long.
The Kailash Mansarovar yatra had to be suspended on a few occasions in the past too, but it was resumed later on as soon as the weather conditions improved. Now this time it is to be seen whether the Government becomes able to resume the pilgrimage or not. In the meantime, cancellation of this yatra has also disappointed hundreds of devotes from across the country as they could not make it to the Kailash Mansarovar this year.
At the same time, disruption in the aforesaid pilgrimage has also caused a huge over Rs 3 crore loss to the KMVN.