The 14-km Gaurikund-Kedarnath road in Rudraprayag district has been divided into many sectors and an official deployed every two km on the route to ensure a smooth journey for pilgrims visiting the Himalayan shrine.

"We reviewed the facilities for pilgrims on the route in consultation with officials of the forest and PWD departments and decided to divide the route into sectors for better management of the yatra to Kedarnath," state Minister Harak Singh Rawat told reporters soon after the meeting. He said one sectoral magistrate has been deployed every two km under whose supervision cleanliness work is being carried out along the route on which Kedarnath yatra began last month.

Pits have been dug up at suitable places for temporary disposal of bio-degradable and non biodegradable waste including mule dung heaps and used polythene bags littering the route, he said.

"Kedarnath is one of the most revered pilgrimage centres in the state and these measures are being taken so that no devotee has a reason to complain," Rawat said.

Mules are used in large numbers on the route to ferry pilgrims from Gaurikund, the trekking base to Kedarnath. He also held lack of coordination between different departments responsible for pending drinking water and other development projects in Rudraprayag district and asked the officials concerned to remove the communication gap between them which often hurdles implementation of projects.

Source: The Indian Express, DT. June 5, 2013.