Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered prayers at the famous Kedarnath temple in the Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, on Friday. He is here to lay the foundation stone of connectivity projects worth more than Rs 3400 crore. This is Modi’s sixth visit to Kedarnath and second to Badrinath as the PM. Wearing a white-colored traditional dress of the hill people with a “swastika” symbol embroidered on it, PM Modi performed a “puja” at the temple. In Kedarnath, the Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of the Kedarnath Ropeway Project and will review the progress of development works along Mandakini Asthapath and Saraswati Asthapath. In Badrinath, he will review the progress of the development work of the riverfront, followed by laying the foundation stone of road and ropeway projects in Mana village.

About Ropeway Projects

In Kedarnath, the ropeway will be around 9.7 km long and will connect Gaurikund to Kedarnath. It will reduce the travel time between the two places from 6-7 hours at present to only about 30 mins. The Hemkund ropeway will connect Govindghat to Hemkund Sahib and will be around 12.4 km long. It will reduce the travel time from more than a day to only about 45 mins. Also, this ropeway will connect Ghangaria, which is the gateway to Valley of Flowers National Park.

Both the ropeways will be developed at a cumulative cost of around Rs 2430 crore. They are an environmentally friendly mode of transport and will provide a safe, secure, and stable mode of transport. This infrastructure development will give a boost to religious tourism in the state. This in turn will give a fillip to the economic development in the state and lead to the creation of multiple employment opportunities.

Projects in Mana village

The two road widening projects (from Mana to Mana Pass-NH07 and from Joshimath to Malari-NH107B) will be another step towards providing the last mile all-weather road connectivity to the border areas of the state. In addition to boosting connectivity, these projects will also prove beneficial from a strategic point of view as well. Uttarakhand shares a border with China in the north.

It is pertinent to mention here that Kedarnath and Badrinath are one of the most important Hindu shrines. Also, the area is known for one of the revered Sikh Pilgrim site-Hemkund Sahib.