Kedarnath: Pre-fabricated houses set up for pilgrims

Dehradun: With pilgrimage to Kedarnath likely to resume next month, pre-fabricated houses with power and water connectivity have been built at the Himalayan shrine to accommodate 100 people. Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar, who visited Kedarnath on Tuesday to take stock of the arrangements there, said pre-fabricated houses fitted with power and water facilities and a capacity to accommodate 100 persons are ready at the shrine. [caption id=“attachment_1132983” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Prayers at the Kedarnath shrine. AFP[/caption] Besides these, makeshift tents have also been pitched at the shrine to accommodate 150 people, he said, adding that street lights have also been put up along the path leading to the temple. Kumar, who traversed a distance of about 20 km on foot in Kedar valley to assess the road restoration work in progress at Jankichatti, Rambara, Gaurikund and Sonprayag, said a nine km stretch between Sonprayag and the shrine is fit for horses and mules to operate, but some more work needs to to be done at a few points, for which instructions have been issued to PWD personnel. PWD engineers have been asked to repair the damaged portions of the roads, including the one km stretch between Rambara and Gaurikund, expeditiously so that the state government could achieve its target of resuming the journey in early October. Prayers at the Kedarnath shrine, which was one of the worst hit in the June 16-17 flashfloods, were resumed on September 11 but yatra to the shrine, suspended since the calamity, could not be restarted with condition of roads still not conducive for it. However, a few days after the resumption of prayers at the shrine, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna had said efforts were on to resume pilgrimage to Kedarnath on October 1 if all preparations are completed by that time. Bahuguna will hold a meeting with officials of Badrinath-Kedarnath Samiti and the district administration here on September 30 to take a final call on when to resume yatra to the shrine, which becomes snowbound and inaccessible during winter. PTI