Former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Harish Rawat has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government of completely ignoring Kedarnath. He said that the reconstruction and other developmental activities in Kedarnath have virtually come to a standstill under the present regime.
Talking to The Pioneer, during his visit to the Kedarnath shrine on Sunday, Rawat said that he was surprised that progress of not even an inch has occurred in Kedarnath after the BJP Government was formed in the State in the month of March.
He said that the Cabinet Committee on disaster had sanctioned a sum of Rs 8,000 crore for reconstruction and rehabilitation work of Kedarnath out of which Rs 2,200 crore were released when the Congress Government was in office in the State.
“Not even a single rupee has been released after that and I doubt whether the present Government has even asked for release of the remaining amount. The vision of my Government was to make Kedarnath as the best pilgrimage town of the country but now things have taken a turn for the worse,’’ he said.
Expressing anguish at the condition of the National Highway (NH) 109 linking Kedarnath, Rawat said that the pilgrims are facing problems due to the bad condition of the road. He said that the purpose of his trip to Kedarnath prior to the proposed visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 20 was to get a firsthand experience of things.
The former Chief Minister under whose tenure reconstruction and rehabilitation works in Kedarnath started in right earnest after the deluge of 2013 that unleashed a trail of destruction in Kedar valley said that it is good that the prime minister is visiting the shrine but people here expect something big from him.
Earlier in the day, the former CM paid obeisance at the Kedarnath shrine. He also addressed a public meeting at Guptkashi on the same day. Here also he launched a scathing attack on the BJP Government for doing nothing. Rawat expressed concern that the Mandakani River is posing a serious threat from Rambara to the Chaurabari area. Kedarnath MlA, Manoj Rawat accompanied the former CM during the day.
He said that Harish Rawat evoked a tremendous response and large numbers of people were present in his public meetings.