Praising the efforts of his Uttarakhand counterpart Trivendra Singh Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday said that the two state had not only ended most of their disputes, but new tourism avenues were continuously being explored for the benefit of the devotees and tourists of both the states besides catering to visitors from other parts of the country and abroad.
The UP chief minister, who was speaking on the occasion of laying down the foundation stone of UP Tourism department’s tourist guest house at Badrinath Dham, said that there were many property related disputes that were lingering on for the past 18 to 20 years but most of them had been successfully sorted out by the joint efforts of UP and Uttarakhand governments. “We will soon resolve the remaining ones,” he added.
Going down the memory lane, Yogi Adityanath said: “Uttarakhand has been my birthplace and I have spent my childhood here. We (UP government) will ensure that the new guest house starts catering to the devotees and visitors before the next season.”
It may be mentioned here that the 40-room guest house will be constructed on one acre area at a cost of about Rs 11 crore as a green building.
To be constructed in the Garhwal style of architecture, it will have facilities like a restaurant, conference hall, dormitory and parking.
Speaking further, Yogi said that visiting the four dhams of Uttarakhand always gave immense pleasure to the devotees and the visitors.
“I am coming here after a long time and feeling blessed after the darshans of Kedarnath and Badrinath Dham. The construction of the guest house has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic but our team of officers, with the support of Uttarakhand government, will ensure its timely construction,” the chief minister said.
Besides this, the UP government also aims to dedicate the under-construction Bhagirath guest house at Haridwar to the devotees before the Haridwar Kumbh, scheduled early next year, he added.
The UP chief minister also appealed to the Uttarakhand government for the renovation of the Taposthali cave of Yogiraj Sundarnath Ji of the Nath Panth.
“The Devbhumi Uttarakhand has been the ‘tapobhumi’ of many saints, including Yogiraj Sundernath Ji. There is also a cave which was his place of worship near the Badrinath Temple and the Uttarakhand government should also work for its renovation,” he said.
Meanwhile, speaking on the occasion earlier, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said that both the states were working dedicatedly for the progress and prosperity of their people.
“Our population is barely 1.25 percent of Uttar Pradesh’s population but we share the same roots,” Rawat said.
He said that during the previous regime in UP, the state symbolised goonda raj but Yogi Adityanath ensured that such perception was done away with. “Now, UP is fast progressing to become an ‘Uttam Pradesh’,” he added.
Yogi Adityanath also visited Mana village of Chamoli district along with Trivendra Singh Rawat and met the soldiers of Indo Tibet Border Police (ITBP), Garhwal Rifles and Border Road Organisation (BRO) at the bordering camps.
Exchanging sweets with the soldiers, the UP chief minister said that it was inspiring for the countrymen how jawans safeguarded the boundaries of the countries while facing all kind of situations.
“Badrinath Dham is the centre of Sanatan Hindu religion and our brave soldiers are discharging their duties to the motherland in this frontier village. After years, I got this opportunity to visit Mana which I could not resist,” he said.
The soldiers were also excited to have the two chief ministers amongst them and greeted them with chants of Bharat Mata Ki Jai.
Mana is the last village before the Mana Pass in Chamoli district and is 25 km from the international border of India and Tibet.
The UP chief minister was on a two-day visit to Uttarakhand from Sunday but due to the inclement weather, he had to stay back for one more day.