U'khand to deploy BRO team in Joshimath for smooth Char Dham Yatra

A disaster management control room will be set up and a Border Roads Organisation team deployed in subsidence-hit Joshimath to ensure smooth conduct of the pilgrimage to Badrinath.

Joshimath, the gateway to famous pilgrimage sites like Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib and international skiing destination Auli, appears on the edge of a precipice with gaping cracks appearing on buildings, roads and public facilities.

The orders were issued on Tuesday by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who chaired a meeting in Dehradun to discuss preparations for the Char Dham Yatra.

A Border Roads Organisation team will be stationed in Joshimath to monitor the yatra on a day-to-day basis and ensure immediate treatment of cracks on roads or any other problem that might arise, the chief minister said.

The Char Dham Yatra will commence with the opening of the portals of the Gangotri and the Yamunotri temples on April 22.

The Kedarnath portal will open on April 25 and that for Badrinath on April 27.

Dhami also asked the public works department to make its roads 100 per cent pothole-free and exhorted all others to complete their respective preparations ahead of the yatra's beginning.

There will be no dearth of funds to prepare for the yatra, Dhami said, and asked the officials to make field visits and monitor preparations on the ground.

All departments should work on the shortcomings and try to provide improved facilities to pilgrims, he said.

"A safe and smooth yatra is our collective responsibility", Dhami said.

Adequate parking facilities should be provided on the yatra route and special attention paid to cleanliness along the trek route. Toilets and drinking water facilities should be set up at every petrol pump, besides putting up signages and crash barriers, the chief minister said.

Teams of veterinary doctors should be deployed on the yatra routes to take care of the horses and mules that are harnessed to carry the pilgrims to the temples, he said.

Dhami also appealed to the pilgrims to spend five per cent of their budgets on buying local products.

The Char Dham Yatra can be used as a platform to promote local millet-based products, he said.