A lack of basic infrastructure at Surkanda Devi temple is causing major problems for the devotees visiting this the shrine.The damaged bridle path and and lack of drinking water facility would also cause hardships to the devotees reaching here on the occasion of Ganga Dussehra.
However, the temple committee has started making arrangements to meet these challenges. Siddha Peeth Surkanda Devi temple is a centre of faith for lakhs of devotees across the State and beyond. Though the temple is visited by a large number of devotees throughout the year, a greater number of devotees from various part of the country visit this shrine every year on the occasion of Ganga Dussehra.
Devotees take a steep climb from the road to reach the shrine but the damaged condition of the path to the temple causes inconvenience and also injuries to devotees at times. In addition to this inconvenience, the temple also lacks the facility of drinking water. The temple is not linked to the pumping water scheme because of which the water has to be carried to the shrine on mules from Kaddukhal , which entails a considerable cost and labour. The devotees have to depend mostly on bottled water throughout the way to the shrine.
The temple committee’s Jitendra Negi, Tilakram Chamoli and Ramkrishna Dabral said that to meet the water requirement during the Ganga Dussehra festival, more water would be transported on mules to the temple. It should be noted here that while the State Government claims to be undertaking various measures for attracting more visitors to the shrines and tourists places of Uttarakhand, an important shrine like Surakanda Devi temple is bereft of even drinking water facility.