The proposed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to February 26 and 27 in Uttarakhand has been postponed at present. According to the warning of the Meteorological Department, in these two days, there was a possibility of heavy snowfall and bad weather in the upper areas of the state, due to which the Prime Minister’s visit had to be canceled. It is now likely that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may come to Uttarakhand on 6 March next month.
This time the Winter Chardham Yatra has been started in Uttarakhand, about which a grand program was proposed. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit a winter throne or major tourist destination of Chardham Yatra to promote the visit, which was accepted by the Prime Minister. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to worship at the winter throne site of Gangotri Dham at Mukhwa, as well as to visit the border village Bagori and address a public meeting in Harshil.
The Uttarakhand government and local administration had made extensive preparations for this visit. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami himself had also reviewed the preparations on Monday, but in the meantime the Meteorological Department issued an alert that there may be heavy snowfall in the high altitude areas of Uttarakhand. In such a situation, the Prime Minister’s visit has been postponed for security reasons.
Significantly, for the first time this year, the Winter Chardham Yatra has been officially started and there is a lot of enthusiasm among the devotees about it. So far, more than 36,000 devotees have seen the winter throne of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri Dham. Among them are Jyotimath of Badrinath Dham, Omkareshwar Temple (Ukhimath) of Kedarnath Dham, Mukhwa of Gangotri Dham and Kharsali of Yamunotri Dham.
The government is promoting this winter journey on a large scale, so that tourism in Uttarakhand gets a year’s boost and local people get new employment opportunities. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami says that the Winter Chardham Yatra will take the tourism of Uttarakhand to new heights and this will also strengthen the local economy.
The local administration and the state government have resumed preparations regarding the proposed visit of the Prime Minister. However, the final decision will be taken in view of the weather conditions. The government plans that the Prime Minister can make important announcements to promote tourism of Uttarakhand during this visit.
The Meteorological Department has predicted heavy snowfall and rain in many parts of Uttarakhand, especially in Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Pithoragarh districts. In view of this, the administration has issued an alert and tourists have been advised to be vigilant. The local administration said that strong security arrangements were made for the Prime Minister’s visit, but this decision was taken due to bad weather. Now on March 6, the final decision will be taken in view of the weather and other circumstances on his visit.
The Uttarakhand government and the local administration are trying to make the Winter Chardham Yatra a success. Although the Prime Minister’s visit was postponed due to bad weather, his tour on 6 March could prove to be important for new schemes and development works.