With an intention to resume the prayers at Kedarnath after cloudburst on June 16-17, the State Government has made all arrangements and is going to resume regular worship by September 11 at 7 am to 11am. As far as resumption of the yatra is concerned, the State will have another meeting on September 30.
This was disclosed by Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna after convening a review the preparation for the worship with the officials of Badrinath Kedarnath temple committee in secretariat on Sunday. At the meeting, it was decided that the Committee will provide a list of 24 people who would oversee the worship, comprising office-bearers and priests nominated. Every ten days, new people will be assigned to the duty in rotation.
Disclosing details of the meeting, CM Bahuguna said that the committee, the Kedarnath Dharmadhikari and representatives of Shanka-racharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati had given their consent for the prayers to recommence at the shrine on September 11, as announced earlier by the State Government.
CM Bahuguna, however, added that devotees will not be allowed to visit the shrine by foot till September 30 for safety reasons. The pedestrian route to the high altitude shrine sustained large-scale damage in the flash flood calamity. The temple committee has provided the state government with a list of 24 persons who will perform the prayers at the shrine on September 11, Bahuguna said. The above team would be replaced every 10 days by a new one which would continue performing the prayers there.
Keeping in view of ongoing tough weather condition, CM has categorically asked the district administration to make arrangements to deal with inclement weather conditions in anticipation. Meanwhile water and electricity supply have resumed there. The bridge connecting Kedarnath has also been built. Arrangements for food and boarding are also being made.
BSNl’s phone network will also be resumed soon, though the provision of satellite phones is available. Teams of police, NDRF and administration are already present in Kedarnath Valley. A medical team has also been posted. The temple premises and surrounding areas have been cleaned up. last rites of all bodies visible around the area have been performed with required rituals.
In September, only people identified for the work of worship will get the permission to fly to Kedarnath by government helicopters. Taking into consideration possibility of bad weather, other persons will not be allowed for the time being. Commercial use of helicopters will not be allowed. Check-posts have been set up in Gaurikund, Sonprayag and some other areas to stop unauthorised persons from entering.
During the meeting, the CM also asked about the arrangements being made from Garhwal Commissioner DS Gabryal and DM, Rudraprayag, Dilip Jawalkar through video conferencing.
later, CM Bahuguna said that work was on to provide relief material to the victims, as well as to rehabilitate the disaster affected people, as well as restore services. The ritual worship was being resumed in Kedarnath due to their religious importance for the people of the country. The temple would be opened to the public once the weather is favourable and necessary infrastructure restored.
Present at today’s meeting were Tourism Minister Amrita Rawat, Chairman, Kedarnath-Badrinath Temple Committee Ganesh Godiyal, Additional Chief Secretary Rakesh Sharma, Principal Secretary SS Sandhu, DGP Satyavrat, Secretary, Dr Umakant Panwar, representatives of the Shankarcharya, office-bearers of the temple committee, Director, State Weather Department, among others.