DEHRADUN, Oct 1:
A three-layered security wall will be built behind the calamity-ravaged Kedarnath Temple to fortify it against future disasters as reconstruction and resettlement work around the shrine as per recommendations of the Geological Survey of India begins this season.
The decision was taken by the State Cabinet at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Harish Rawat here yesterday, an official release said.
There will be no construction at the back of the shrine upto Chaurabari and in the 150 metre radius around it, it said.
A three-layered security wall will be built behind the temple to fortify it against future calamities and the removal of debris of dilapidated structures close to the shrine will begin in the last week of October.
The Cabinet gave its final nod to the reconstruction of the shrine, a township near it named Kedarpuri and the halts around it.
It also gave approval to a proposal for launching a ropeway, golf cart and shuttle taxi services at the Himalayan shrine once the reconstruction and resettlement work in the area is finished, the release said.
An authority under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister will be set up to oversee reconstruction work around the famed temple which bore the brunt of the natural calamity in June last year.
The new authority will give final touches to the drainage, sewerage, drinking water facilities, internal roads and residential system at the high altitude temple, it said.
An area measuring 90 metre in length and 20 metre in breadth between Kedarnath and the bridge over Mandakini will be kept free of all construction so that the shrine is visible from a distance without any obstructions.
People who owned land in the devastated Kedarpuri will get preference in allotment of land when the township is rebuilt.
About 1000 people who lost their homes in Gaurikund, Rambada, Garurchatti and Bhimbali during last year’s deluge will be rehabilitated.
Dozers and other heavy equipment required for the rubble removal exercise will be transported to the Himalayan temple by Mi-26 helicopters only after work on the construction of a big helipad near it is over by October 25.
All the stakeholders like ‘teerth purohits’ and priests will be taken into confidence before reconstruction of Kedarpuri as the recommendations of the GSI begins. (PTI)
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