Modi’s sets another maiden
When the prime minister visited Kedarnath shrine and performed ‘rudrabhishek’ (a pooja for Lord Shiva) on Wednesday, he became the first prime minister to visit the sanctum sanctorum of the temple after PM Vishwanath Pratap Singh in 1989. He was there on the first day the doors opened and was the first devotee to seek darshan, which is another first for a PM. Kedarnath temple remains open only for six months in the summers for darshan. Its doors are opened on an auspicious day in the first week of May every year. After the pooja, the PM met pilgrims thronging the shrine. Later, he visited ‘Bhimshila’, a massive rock that had come down when deadly deluge had taken place at Kedarnath in 2013 , killing thousands of pilgrims. It is said that this rock protected the temple from damage.
Students as district magistrates
The district magistrate of Tehri has come out with a novel experiment, where children of various schools in Tehri will act as district magistrates for one day in a week. The new DM of Tehri, Sonika initiated this practice to hone the leadership qualities of meritorious school students. The students from Class X and XII will sit with the DM in the collectorate and learn administrative affairs. Their opinion will also be sought on different issues. The students will be selected by officials of education department. This practice will begin within the next two weeks.
BSNL's gift to Kedarnath pilgrims
Communication has always been a problem in the high altitudes of Kedar valley. Hostile weather often compounds the problems for pilgrims visiting the shrine. But this year the situation may be different as BSNL has come out with a special gift for pilgrims visiting Kedarnath this season. BSNL has started its 3G service in the mountain area from last Tuesday. This will make communication easier for devotees. BSNL General manager (mobile service) Suryakant said though the department faced many issues in introducing 3G service at this altitude, it was necessary as 2G service was facing connection issues and had caused lot of inconvenience to visitors.
Nelong to be permit free soon
The tourism minister of Uttarakhand Satpal Maharaj has said soon Nelong valley will be inner line permit free. This will be done to promote adventure tourism in the area. Nelong Valley, part of the Gangotri National Park in Uttarakhand, is located at an altitude of 11,500 feet. After the 1962 Sino-Indian war, it was closed for tourists but was reopened last year. Deep gorges, narrow roads and snow-clad mountains adorn the valley, which offers an enchanting view of the Tibetan plateau. Animals like the snow leopard, blue sheep of the Himalayan region and musk deer can be seen here. A trek further up from Nelong, takes tourists to the temples of Lal Devta and Gauri Kund located at an altitude of 13,000 feet. Nelong is 300km from Dehradun. The valley is open to tourists only between May and November as heavy snow and extreme cold make it inaccessible during winter. Visitors have to obtain permits from various administrative authorities like the sub-divisional magistrate and the Local Intelligence Unit to come here. Only six vehicles are allowed to enter the valley a day. No foreigners are permitted. Satpal Maharaj has been trying to do away with these permits and in this regard he has said that he would soon send a proposal to central government. He also said that the Uttarakhand government would ensure better facilities to tourist coming here.
