By Our Staff Reporter
Rudraprayag, 26 Aug: The Kedarnath Yatra’s pedestrian route has now been fully re-opened after a gap of 26 days. Now, along with the pilgrims who had been allowed to trek to Kedarnath Dham some days ago, the pedestrian route has also been reopened for horses and mules. This route had been closed after a cloudburst that had struck on the night of 31 July due to heavy damage to the pedestrian route. Now, this route has been opened for horses and mules after a gap of 26 days. Along with the movement of horses and mules on the Yatra route, the supply of ration and other essential items has also been permitted through this route. The Kedarnath pedestrian road has been repaired after continuous hard work by the district administration and labourers.
Now, horses and mules have started reaching Kedarnath once again. This route had been damaged in more than 22 places following the cloudburst of 31 July. After the destruction of this pedestrian road, thousands of pilgrims were evacuated safely by running a special rescue mission which was led by DM Rudraprayag under direct supervision of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.
It was a huge challenge before the agencies concerned to repair and restore the trek at the earliest. Some days ago, the trek was repaired to the extent of allowing restricted movement on foot by the pilgrims. However, the road remained strictly restricted for the horses and the mules as well as for the suppliers.
Now the district administration claims that the 19 kilometre long trek has been restored to allow movement of horses and mules who not only carry the pilgrims but also take essential supplies to Kedarnanth on a daily basis during the Yatra season. District Disaster Management Officer Nandan Singh Rajwar has stated that the 19 km long trek has been repaired to the extent of allowing movement of horses and the mules on the trek. The district administration is working on further repairing the pedestrian route fully as soon as possible. Hundreds of workers of PWD, Guptkashi, are engaged in the repair work. Apart from this, work is also underway on the Sonprayag – Gaurikund highway. Vehicle movement will also start here soon.
