By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 23 Apr: Cabinet Minister Prem Chand Aggarwal has given instructions to the District Magistrate Dehradun to order that schools in the district be closed on Saturdays till the conclusion of Char Dham Yatra. On Saturday, Ravi Kumar Jain, convener of Uttarakhand Abhibhavak Sangharsh Mahasangh had called on Aggarwal at his camp office on Barrage Road in Rishikesh and intimated the minister that owing to heavy rush of pilgrims and tourists every weekend, traffic jams were very common on weekends in Rishikesh and surrounding areas. This caused huge inconvenience to school going children and their parents and took long time for them to reach schools from homes and vice versa. Realising that the problem was genuine, Cabinet Minister Aggarwal spoke to District Magistrate Dehradun Dr R Rajesh Kumar, asking him to issue orders to keep the schools closed on Saturdays till the conclusion of the Char Dham Yatra. It may be also recalled that in between, summer holidays are also likely. It however remains to be seen, if the Dehradun district administration issues orders for closure of schools in the entire district on Saturdays or restricts the orders to Rishikesh which sees heavy traffic due to Char Dham Yatra. According to sources, any orders in this respect are yet to be issued so far.
