Helicopters To Take Pilgrims To Kedarnath Temple From Aug 7, 25% Discount On Tickets: Dhami

CM Pushkar Singh Dhami said that pilgrims will be able to visit Kedarnath temple via helicopter from tomorrow and a 25 percent discount will be given on tickets. Effort is also on to repair the landslide-hit roads so that pilgrims can walk to the temple, he said.

Dehradun:Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday announced that helicopter services in Kedarnath will resume from August 7 and pilgrims will get a dicount of 25 percent on their tickets.

During his visit to Rudraprayag today, Dhami said, "For the devotees who have booked their tickets and have come to Uttarakhand, can start their journey from tomorrow onwards. We want the journey to resume as soon as possible so that the devotees can visit Kedarnath temple. Our focus is on restoring the connectivity but till the roads are repaired, pilgrims will be able to visit Kedarnath Dham via helicopter."

The CM further said that the devotees who have reached or want to go to Kedarnath Dham in Rishikesh, Haridwar and Rudraprayag will be given a rebate of 25 percent on their tickets. Twenty five percent of the fare will be borne by the state government, he said.

"In the next one week, we will try to send pilgrims to Kedarnath Dham by foot as well. We want to remove the fear of the devotees of Kedarnath Yatra being unsafe. A successful rescue was possible after such a major disaster because all the agencies did their job well," he said.

After conducting ground and aerial inspections in Rudraprayag, Dhami said that there are 29 such points from where the devotees had reached Kedarnath Dham, where the road has been completely damaged due to landslides. This apart, a 150-metre stretch has been completely submerged in the river.

The entire area has suffered a lot of damage during the disaster. Information about the incident is being given to the Central government, Dhami said while thanking the Centre for being beside the state government in this hour of disaster.

On the night of July 31, heavy rainfall triggered landslides on the Kedarnath Yatra route following which many road stretches were washed out while several pilgrims were stranded. Since then, effort is underway to rescue passengers. Thus, the Kedarnath Yatra had been banned.

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