By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 24 Apr: The Panchmukhi Utsav (Festive Doli) of Baba Kedarnath, who is considered to be the eleventh Jyotirlinga, reached Kedarnath Dham this afternoon after leaving Gaurikund today. The portals of Kedarnath Shrine are schedule to open on Tuesday even as an alert has been issued for a possible avalanche.
Meanwhile on way to Kedarnath, as the Doli of Baba Kedarnath proceeded, devotees welcomed it with garlands. Flowers were showered on the Utsav Doli from helicopters. On reaching Kedarnath Dham, devotees welcomed Baba’s Doli in large numbers with loud cheers. The portals of Kedarnath Dham will be opened for the devotees at 6:20 a.m. tomorrow.
Kedarnath Dham has been fully decorated with over 10 quintals of marigold flowers. A large number of Baba’s devotees have also reached Kedarnath to have darshan on the first day of the season.
There is a possibility of avalanche and snowfall in Kedarnath Dham over the next six to seven days. Instructions have been issued to the Rudraprayag police to coordinate with the district administration and related departments in this regard. Regarding snowfall, social media, news channels and newspapers have been asked to provide due publicity. Due to the warning of avalanche, for the time being, fresh registrations for Kedar Dham have been withheld.
Due to inclement weather and possibility of heavy snowfall and avalanche, DGP Ashok Kumar has instructed the police to be in alert mode. Police have been asked to coordinate with other departments keeping the SDRF and emergency services on alert. In this regard, the DGP also held a video conference with IG Garhwal and district police chiefs.
DGP Ashok Kumar informed media that there is a possibility of snowfall in Kedarnath Dham over the next six to seven days. Instructions have been given to the Rudraprayag police to coordinate with the district administration and related departments. The pilgrims have been advised to start their journey only when the weather gets cleared up.
It may be recalled that the Defence Geo Informatics and Research Establishment (DGRE) Chandigarh, has issued an avalanche warning in Uttarkashi, Chamoli and Rudraprayag over a period of the next few days. In such a situation, instructions have been given to police force, SDRF, fire service, trained employees in disaster relief work and concerned departments to be vigilant. The DGP said that the teams of SDRF and other disaster relief departments should be deputed in advance at such places where the possibility of disaster is high.
