Soon, mobile shelters along Char Dham route
DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand government has started preparing for this year’s Char Dham yatra with unique attractions for tourists and pilgrims.
On the route to the Char Dham shrines, Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam is working to start mobile shelters for an experiential stay to tourists or pilgrims visiting the state.
Ashish Chauhan, managing director of Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) said, “We had a few buses with us which we thought of utilising as mobile night shelters to give tourists a better experience. The buses have all facilities like beds, pantry, air conditioning, washrooms, sitting area. We are also providing tents along with the bus, for tourists who want to camp.”
The buses that can accommodate three to four people, will be run by drivers of the department and will have to stop near Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam tourist rest houses, “for safety of tourists.”
“The mobile shelters will have to stop near Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam rest houses as that will ensure safety of both our tourists and the vehicle. During the stay, the shelters will get electricity connection from the rest house and the facility to refill inbuilt water tank,” added Chauhan.
He said that the mobile night shelter initiative is likely to start before the Tehri Lake Festival scheduled to be held on February 16-17.
In a similar initiative to attract tourists, Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam is also soon going to start a restaurant in Dhanaulti, where old ambassador cars have been used as seating. GMVN has also started an open air restaurant in Mussoorie, which is getting a positive feedback from tourists.
Snowfall
Fresh snowfall was reported from Char Dham shrines and higher reaches of Uttarakhand bringing the temperature down on Thursday. Plains districts witnessed continuous rainfall throughout the day.
The India Meteorological Department on Thursday issued a weather warning for Friday and advised state government authorities to make necessary arrangements for road clearances. he department predicted that on Friday, light to moderate rainfall or thunderstorm or snowfall is likely to occur at a few places in hills and at isolated places in plains of Uttarakhand with snowfall likely at places with height 1800 metres and above.