Traffic flow to be smooth on Chardham route: U’khand CM

DEHRADUN: Special arrangements are being put in place on the Chardham route to ensure that traffic jams do not continue beyond 15 minutes during the ongoing annual yatra (pilgrimage), chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has said.

Rawat has not ruled out the possibility of Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting Kedarnath to attend the ceremonial reopening of the portals of the shrine on April 29.

“The chief minister has not ruled out the possibility of the prime minister attending the ceremonial reopening of the portals of Kedarnath. Nor has he confirmed such reports floating in the media,” the chief minister’s media coordinator Darshan Singh Rawat said. “He clarified that there had been no confirmation from the Prime Minister’s Office whether he would attend the ceremonial reopening of the portals of Kedarnath shrine.”

Modi laid the foundation stone of the Kednarpuri reconstruction project in October last year. The shrine town was struck by calamitous floods in 2013.

There are, however, reports that the Prime Minister has given clear instructions to officials to ensure that the Kedarpuri reconstruction project is completed by early 2019.

Such reports have also given rise to strong speculations that Modi “is in a hurry” as he might launch his party’s campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from the shrine town of Kedarnath.

Darshan Singh, however, confirmed that the CM has stated that special traffic arrangements “are being put in place” to ensure a smooth flow of traffic on the Chardham yatra route.