Rudraprayag: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday reviewed the relief and rescue operations and reconstruction works in the rain-affected areas of Rudraprayag district. Before this, he also conducted an aerial survey of the affected areas.
The Chief Minister reviewed all the departments related to the Chardham Yatra route and inquired about the damage caused by the heavy rains. He also inquired about the efforts and preparations being made by all the departments to start the Yatra. The Chief Minister directed the officials to take necessary steps to normalize life in the affected areas. He directed that the damaged routes, drinking water and power lines should be restored as soon as possible. Dhami directed to start the Shri Kedarnath Dham footpath route soon. He directed that the helicopter service for Shri Kedarnath Dham should be started from Wednesday.
He said that pilgrims arriving for darshan through helicopter service will be given a 25 percent discount in the fare, which will be borne by the state government. He also appealed to the local people for suggestions and cooperation in the work to be done to start the yatra.
Dhami listened to the problems of the local people during his interaction with them at Rampur GMVN. He assured solutions to all the problems of the affected. He thanked the local people for their cooperation in the rescue operation conducted by the government and administration in these difficult circumstances. He also thanked the central government and said that after the heavy rains, the central government provided all possible assistance including Chinook and MI helicopters.
Talking to the media after the review meeting, the Chief Minister said that due to landslides caused by heavy rains, footpaths and roads have been cut off at 29 places. Apart from this, a large amount of government properties including drinking water and electricity lines were also damaged.
Telecommunication services have also been disrupted at some places. He said that since the incident of heavy rainfall, the district administration, disaster management and other organizations including SDRF, DDRF, NDRF and public representatives, Panda community, pilgrimage priests, organizations related to religious and social concerns have worked wholeheartedly in this rescue operation to take the devotees stranded in this disaster to safe places. The Chief Minister said that about 12 thousand devotees and local people have been rescued in record time. The rescue operation is almost complete.