51-member team to inspect Kedarnath work

On February 10, the team will start a 16-km trek from Gaurikund to Kedarnath. They will be joined by Chief Minister Trivendra Rawat on February 11 to “inspect the ongoing reconstruction works at Kedarpuri”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the shrine on October 20 and laid the foundation stone of five infrastructure projects worth Rs 250 crore. (Express Photo/Virender Singh Negi/File)

Three months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Kedarnath shrine, a 51-member team, comprising “team leader” Bhaskar Khulbe, Secretary to the Prime Minister, and including Central Board of Film Certification chief Prasoon Joshi, will visit Kedarnath to “inspect” ongoing reconstruction work in one of Modi’s pet projects.

The team includes DG Coast Guard Rajendra Singh, and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval’s son Shaurya Doval, whose active participation in Uttarakhand BJP functions in the last few months has triggered speculation of his formal entry into politics before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The team, comprising actors, filmmakers, bureaucrats and sports personalities, mostly of Uttarakhand origin, will start the “Kedarpuri Reconstruction Expedition, 2018” from Rishikesh on February 9. Modi visited the shrine on October 20 and laid the foundation stone of five infrastructure projects worth Rs 250 crore.

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On February 10, the team will start a 16-km trek from Gaurikund to Kedarnath. They will be joined by Chief Minister Trivendra Rawat on February 11 to “inspect the ongoing reconstruction works at Kedarpuri”.

The projects include widening of approach road to Kedarnath, construction of ghat and a retaining wall on Mandakini and Saraswati, construction of houses for purohit (priest) community and construction of a grand ‘samadhi sthal’ of Adi Sankara.

Rudraprayag district magistrate Mangesh Ghildiyal said, “Work started soon after Modi’s visit, but the Irrigation Department, PWD and Uttarkashi-based Nehru Institute of Mountaineering were working in cold conditions with 1-2 feet snow. The remaining work will be done once the snow melts in April.”

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