Chief Minister Harish Rawat sent an invitation to the President Pranab Mukherjee to visit the Kedarnath temple’s Kapat (portals) opening ceremony which is scheduled for April 24. President Mukherjee accepted the invitation on Thursday and is ready to attend the holy ceremony.
Information department issued a press release, marking the CM Rawat meet with President Mukherjee on Thursday in New Delhi and requested him to attend the ceremony. The release also noted the President agreed to attend the ceremony of opening the kapats.
President’s consent to the visit the Kedarnath Temple is considered to be important after the 2013 flash floods calamity which ravaged the state and took a toll on the number of tourists going for Char Dham Yatra. The visit by the President is also believed to restore the confidence with the message of “safe Char Dham yatra” in devotees for the Char Dham pilgrimage which includes – Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri.
Meanwhile, Mr. Rawat has expressed concern over unrepaired ‘Char Dham’ routes and said the support of Central agencies – the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) – was necessary to repair the roads ahead of the commencement of the yatra. A large part of the ‘Char Dham’ route falls under the NHAI and the BRO. The support of the Central agencies – NHAI and BRO – is necessary to repair the Char Dham routes, Mr. Rawat said.
Uttarakhand government has already tightened its belt to reconstruct the Kedarnath valley as soon as possible which is worst hit in the 2013 disaster. In accordance to the construction work done to restore the valley several new cottages and hotel can be seen in the valley to accommodate the pilgrims. Despite the inclement weather conditions, a team from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) has been continuing restoration works in Kedarnath temple area. The trek route was also repaired on time before the Kedarnath Yatra began in 2014.
Src : Indian Express, Dehradun
Published Date: March 5, 2015
