More than half a dozen works have been approved by the Central Government to repair and reconstruct disaster affected routes under the purview of the Forest Department. These works also include the reconstruction of two alternate routes to Kedarnath.
According to additional secretary, Forests and Environment, Manoj Chandran, the Centre has approved eight works under special plan assistance (Reconstruction), including reconstruction of Naurigaon-Kalsidhar-Kimotra forest motor road costing Rs 275 lakh, Kimotra-Sarutal-Hanumanchatti forest path costing Rs 175 lakh, Gondar-Madmaheshwar-Rudranath forest path costing Rs 100 lakh, Ghangharia-Valley of Flowers-Kuntkhal- Hanumanchatti path reconstruction costing Rs 200 lakh, Chaumasi Rambada bridle path costing Rs 175 lakh and Trijuginarayan Kedarnath forest path costing Rs 175 lakh- the last two works being reconstruction of alternate routes to Kedarnath. Additionally, the reconstruction of Bauna-Kulka-Jimba-Balchadhura-Sumdum-Sobala forest bridle path costing Rs 300 lakh and Paton to Ralam reconstruction costing Rs 100 lakh would be executed under Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) head.
It is worth mentioning here that the June 2013 disaster that had wreaked havoc especially in five of the State’s mountainous districts had caused damage worth at least Rs 38.95 crore to properties and infrastructure under the Forest Department’s purview. The departmental properties damaged following the heavy rains last year included about 183 residential buildings, 25 non residential buildings, 537.29 kilometres of forest roads, 2653 kms of bridle paths and trekking routes, 58 bridges and culverts, 40.75 hectares of nurseries and 2364 hectares of forest department plantations. The area and properties under the Wildlife division had sustained damage amounting to Rs 18.82 crore while the cost of damage suffered in the Garhwal and Kumaon divisions was about Rs 15.19 crore and Rs 4.93 crore respectively.
Though the damage wreaked by the disaster last year was spread across the different areas of Uttarakhand under the purview of the Forest Department, the areas in the Kedarnath wildlife sanctuary in Rudraprayag district and the Gangotri national park in Uttarkashi district had sustained comparatively more damage which had exerted a major negative effect on tourism and pilgrimage activities with two of the Char Dham shrines- Kedarnath and Gangotri located here. It is hoped that the repair and reconstruction of forest routes and departmental facilities will help boost eco tourism in the State.