DEHRADUN: Kailash Mansarovar Yatra is likely to be delayed as the coordination committee meeting for this year’s pilgrimage has been delayed amidst Coronavirus sacre.
The meeting which was scheduled to be organised in the last week of February has not taken place yet.
Ashok Joshi, general manager of Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN), the nodal agency that manages the yatra from Lipulekh Pass every year since 1981 said, "We are yet to receive a word on meeting of the committee in Delhi. If the meeting is delayed, so will the decision making on the yatra and subsequently, further delaying the pilgrimage."
Preparations have started and the yatra routes and treks should be ready before three months of the first batch adding in Kathgodam of Nainital district.
Apart from the KMVN, Indo-Tibetan Border Police is another government body which plays a key role in the yatra.An official from the force told The New Indian Express on the condition of anonymity that meeting about preparations related to the yatra which was scheduled with ministry of external affairs along with the nodal agency KMVN, has not yet taken place this year.
Another factor pointing towards apprehensions on the yatra is that every year the Pithoragarh district administration sends a team of engineers from public works department (PWD) to find out the conditions of the trek route in the first week of February, but due to uncertainty this year, no team has been sent yet.
The officials from the state government agency also added that heavy snowfall this year might be another reason for delay in the yatra.
Snow deposits are still in a path from Chiyalekh to Nabhidang which will take some time to clean, added the officials.
The route of the pilgrims through Uttarakhand goes like this- Delhi-Kathgodam-Almora-Seraghat-Mirthi-Jauljibi-Dharchula-Tawaghat-Najang-Bundi-Gunji-Kalapani-Nabhidang. Afterwards, the Lipulekh pass starts.
From Delhi to Najang pilgrims are provided luxury buses while from Najang to Nabhidang and further travel is on foot till date.