DEHRADUN: In a fresh move, Char Dham priests have written a letter to the Uttarakhand chief secretary protesting against the formation of a Devsthanam Board by the government In the letter, they also urged the state government to complete the beautification of the Kedarnath Dham at the earliest.
“We urge to the state government to complete the beautification of the Kedarnath Dham at the earliest. In the process, the government should also repair the houses damaged in 2013 floods as promised,” the letter read.
“After the natural disaster, locals as well as priests shared more properties/land to the State government then asked for the beautification of the Kedarnath Dham. However now, neither locals, not shrine priests are ready to share their land or properties in the name of Master Plan.”
In July, the Uttarakhand High Court had dismissed the PIL filed by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy who opposed the formation of ‘Char Dham Devsthanam Board’ under a law to govern Char Dham and 51 other temples.
In December 2019, a Bill related to management of Char Dhams was passed after discussion in the Uttarakhand Assembly.
Later, its name of was changed to Uttarakhand Char Dham Devshtanam Management Board Act.