Kedarnath: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday visited the Kedarnath temple and said his government will rebuild the shrine into a model pilgrimage site and a tourism spot.
After laying the foundation stone for a new Kedarpuri, which was destroyed by flash floods in June 2013, Modi said that apart from the pilgrimage site, there would be facilities for adventure sports and sites to showcase the natural beauty of the place. It would be developed as an ecological model for others to follow, he said.
The PM said that he was extremely saddened by the floods of 2013 and attacked the Congress for denying his proposal of redevelopment.
“That time I was not the Prime Minister, I was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. I came here to do all that I could for the victims," Modi said while addressing a public meeting here after offering prayers ahead of the temple closure for the next six months.
“I had met the then Chief Minister (Vijay Bahuguna) and the state government officials and offered that Gujarat would redevelop Kedarnath. During the meeting they agreed. And I announced it to the media.”
"But when the news was flashed on television, and it reached Delhi, the people there (UPA government) panicked and within hours the state government was pressured to announce that it will redevelop Kedarnath itself," Modi said.
He said after the BJP government came to power in Uttarakhand earlier this year he “understood that the work of Kedaranath redevelopment will be done by us".
In June 2013, Bahuguna and the Congress had rebuffed Modi's offer for redevelopment of Kedarnath and his Rs 3 crore cheque, which was in addition to Rs 2 crore aid his state had donated for rain disaster relief.
The Congress and other parties had criticised Modi for trying to be the "Rambo" of rescue and alleged he was trying to communalise a natural calamity.
Modi, in his address to the gathering in Kedarnath on Friday, said: "Through the work we are doing in Kedarnath, we want to show how an ideal 'Tirth Kshetra' (pilgrim centre) should be like, how it should be pilgrim friendly and the wellbeing of the priests should be given importance,” he said.
"We are building quality infrastructure in Kedarnath. It will be modern but the traditional ethos will be preserved. We will ensure the environment is not damaged," Modi added.
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