A day after visiting Kedarnath, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Saturday said the first and second phases of reconstruction work would begin in the Valley in the coming week.
The Mandakini and Saraswati rivers that changed course after the June 2013 deluge would be channelled back on their original routes. This and flood protection works would be done in the first phase. While the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering and the State Irrigation Department would be responsible for properly channelling the rivers, the Public Works and Irrigation Departments would take up flood protection works.
Mr. Rawat said work on building two protection walls near the Kedarnath shrine would begin in the coming week. While the outer wall would protect the temple from floods from the Chorabari glacier side, the inner wall would come up near the Divya Shila (divine rock), a large boulder a few metres away from the shrine.
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Fully destroyed buildings on the shrine premises would be demolished and compensated for. The Geological Survey of India, which conducted a survey of the Kedarnath area and submitted a report to the government, would be asked to do two more exercises — before and after the monsoon season. Based on that, work on the temple premises would be taken up.
Rambara and Bheembali suffered destruction when Mandakini waters gushed through the Kedarnath Valley last year. Now, Mr. Rawat said, markets would be developed at Talli Linchouli and Malli Linchouli as substitutes for Rambara and Bheembali. This would be covered under phase II of reconstruction.
“Around Rs. 4,000 crore would be required to complete the rehabilitation and reconstruction work in the disaster-affected areas,” he said, adding he would take the proposal to the Centre.
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Though the UPA-II government had approved a three-year package of Rs. 8,000 crore, a fresh estimate revealed an additional requirement of Rs. 4,000 crore, he said.
On the six-month Char Dham yatra, the Chief Minister said the government would want to make it a year-long event. Priests of the Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines would be consulted on making it run through the year.