Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami Archives - Lokmarg

Preparations On For Char Dham Yatra 2023: Dhami

By LokMarg 27th January 2023

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday stated that the sacred Char Dham yatra, one of the most popular Hindu pilgrimages that take place annually in the Garhwal Himalayas will draw in a record number of devotees this year.

Talking to ANI, chief minister Dhami said, “The date of opening of the portals of Badrinath Dham has been announced, now the focus of the government will be that the yatra should be done in a grand manner.”
Dhami stated that a lot of devotees participated in the Char Dham yatra in 2022 and this year the government intends to provide better facilities for pilgrims.

“This year, we are making our preparations beforehand. Work on a Master Plan is also going on in Badrinath. We have to give a lot of facilities to the devotees and make their yatra safe, easy, and comfortable. We’ll work towards it with the blessings of Baba Badri Vishal. Only 100 days are left before the Char Dham yatra begins. Our yatra will be record-breaking this year and we are making all the preparations for it,” added Dhami.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, the Uttarakhand Chief Minister said that 70 percent of normalcy has returned to Joshimath, where cracks are appearing in buildings due to land subsidence and that the state government is preparing for the Char Dham Yatra.

Chief Minister Dhami also stated that the Char Dham Yatra would be starting in the next four months.

According to officials, the state government will review preparations for the yatra 15 days prior to its commencement. Since Joshimath lies at the entrance of the yatra and the last major halt before Badrinath, officials will review preparations to ensure that the land subsidence issue does not impact the yatra.

The portals of the Badrinath temple in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district will open on April 27 morning. As per tradition, the time and date for the opening of the famous temple were decided at a religious ceremony held at the erstwhile Tehri royal palace on the occasion of Basant Panchami, according to officials of the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee.

The Badrinath Dham is one of the four ancient pilgrimage sites referred to as ‘Char Dham’ which also includes Yamunotri, Gangotri, and Kedarnath. It is situated in the town of Badrinath in Uttarakhand. It remains open for six months every year (between the end of April and the beginning of November).

Last week while speaking to the press, Dhami stated that the Char Dham Yatra would be starting in the next four months.

Meanwhile today, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader also spoke about the BJP National Executive held recently to discuss a road map for the yatra.

The chief minister said, “A detailed work plan was made during the two-day meeting. The meeting was held in the presence of the National President of the Party JP Nadda. The issues on which we have to work on the national level were communicated to us.”

“Party workers discussed what work has been done and what needs to be done. Our work needs to reach every person, community, and the borders of nation. In the upcoming parliamentary elections, we will try to win by a two-thirds majority. Uttarakhand is going to become one the best states to contribute to nation-building,” affirmed the chief minister while speaking to ANI. (ANI)

Dhami Reviews Relief Work In Land Subsidence-Hit Joshimath

By LokMarg 23rd January 2023

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday reviewed the relief and rescue works in land subsidence-hit Joshimath.

Uttarakhand Chief Secretary SS Sandhu and other top officials were present at the meeting held at the State Secretariat. CM Dhami was briefed about the ground zero situation in Joshimath.
Meanwhile, the authorities continued demolition work in areas affected by land subsidence in the Himalayan town.

So far, the district administration has identified 863 buildings that have developed cracks due to subsidence in the Joshimath city area.

According to Chamoli District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana, out of this, 181 buildings have been placed in the unsafe zone.

Joshimath, on the Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway (NH 7), is an overnight halt for the people visiting the holy shrines at Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib and tourist destinations Auli, and the Valley of Flowers. But the incident has hit tourism here. (ANI)

Dhami To Lead Joshimath Rescue, Rehab Ops

By LokMarg 6th January 2023

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday said that in the wake of the land subsidence at Joshimath in Chamoli district, he would hold a high-level meeting in Dehradun this evening.

“I will hold a high-level meeting with top officials in Dehradun this evening regarding landslides in Joshimath and cracks in houses,” Uttarakhand CM said while talking to ANI.
Apart from the officials of the Disaster Management, Irrigation, Home Department, Commissioner Garhwal Mandal, and District Magistrate Chamoli will also participate in the meeting.

Dhami further said that he would visit Joshimath on Saturday and take stock of the situation.

“A team from BJP has also been sent there,” he added.

Notably, the BJP state unit has also formed a 14-member committee, under the coordination of the party’s state general secretary Aditya Kothari to assess the land subsidence incident and the damages being reported.

Joshimath, in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, is seeing severe landslides. Currently, all of the wards in the area have been affected by landslides.

Cracks have reportedly developed in as many as 561 houses in Joshimath as a result of continued land subsidence in the town, stated the District Disaster Management Department.

Following the appearance of cracks in the houses, a total of 66 families are reported to have migrated from Joshimath as of now.

Residents of Joshimath, a sacred town in Uttarakhand, have become alarmed after noticing fissures in the town’s houses and roadways and have been evacuated and shifted to night shelters of the municipality by the administration.

The affected people, their families, and children are currently living in night shelters, officials said.

The locals said that the people affected by the landslide, have been assured by the government that they will get pre-fabricated houses. However, they are worried about when the houses will be allotted to them.

The Uttarakhand government has formed a team of scientists to find out the reason behind the occurrence of land subsidence in Joshimath and the resultant damage reported to the houses.

The team will be visiting the spot and investigating the reason behind the land subsidence, said an official statement from the government.

According to an official statement, engineers from the Geological Survey of India, Wadia Institute, and IIT Roorkee have been included in the team formed on the instructions of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.

Cracks have reportedly developed in as many as 561 houses in Joshimath as a result of continued land subsidence in the town, stated the District Disaster Management Department.

Following the appearance of cracks in the houses, a total of 66 families are reported to have migrated from Joshimath as of now.

“Now the process of increasing cracks in Singhdhar and Marwadi has started. Badrinath NH near Singhdhar Jain locality and JP Company Gate in Marwadi, near the forest department check post, is continuously cracking. This crack is increasing every hour which is worrying,” said Joshimath Municipal Chairman Shailendra Pawar. (ANI)