Plan to open new tourist areas hits roadblock

Priests opposed to opening more areas on Chardham circuit

Coming under pressure from the local priests, who are opposed to the new Chardham Religious Bill, the Uttaranchal government has put on the backburner its plan to open the areas in the Char dham tourist circuit throughout the year.

An initiative to open these areas came when Chief Minister N D Tiwari called for opening areas around pilgrim centers "" Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri to promote tourism.

When contacted, an official said the government was weighing pros and cons of keeping open the areas around these centers. But he said since the matter was related to religious sentiments, the government would cautiously take a final decision.

The official also made it clear that there was no proposal whether to remove restrictions on foreign tourists traveling beyond the inner lines of the Himalayan region. But he asserted that the move would definitely promote tourism in the Himalayan region.

However, Ansuiya Prasad, chairman of the Badrinath-Kedarnath Committee welcomed the move to open areas around the Char Dham circuit and said the government should build infrastructure around these temples.

"For promoting tourism, the government must beautify areas around these temples," he said.

Meanwhile, the Gangotri temple Management committee is making arrangements so that pilgrims can have darshan of Gangotri goddess during the winter period also.

The committee chairman Pandit Ashok Semwal said pilgrims would get all facilities to come to Mukhba area, the wintry sojourn of the Goddess Gangotri. According to traditions, the statute of the Goddess in brought down from the Gangotri temple during winter to Mukhba area of Uttarakashi district.

The local priests at Badrinath and Kedarnath , who are also known as hakhakookdharis, had been protesting against the chardham religious bill for quite sometime.

With state assembly elections around the corner, the government treading its path very carefully especially on the issues of religious sentiments, the tourism official said.