“No new crack seen in Lion Gate of Shri Badrinath temple”: BKTC Vice President

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India]: The Vice President of Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) Kishor Panwar on Friday said that no new cracks have been seen in the Lion Gate of Shri Badrinath temple and added that no landslide has occurred recently in the Badrinath temple area.

The BKTC Vice President said that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is carrying out repair work on the minor cracks that were earlier found in the Lion Gate of the Badrinath temple and at present no new cracks have been seen.

BKTC Chairman Ajendra Ajay wrote a letter to the government in 2022 informing about the minor cracks on the Lion Gate of Badrinath temple. Thereafter, the government directed the ASI to prepare a detailed report in this regard.

Responding to this, ASI prepared an action plan for repairs in July 2022. In October 2022, ASI had fixed glass tiles (scale-like leaves of glass) on the cracks of the Singh Gate, to measure the width of cracks. After studying the glass tiles, ASI started the treatment work on August 9, 2023 and observed no significant changes in the cracks.

BKTC media in-charge Harish Gaur said that under the treatment work of Singh Dwar, in the first phase, work has been done on the right side of Singh Dwar. Now treatment is proposed for the cracks on the left side. It is clear that there have been cracks on the Singh Gate for a long time, the treatment of which is being done.

Earlier, the Uttarakhand government on Wednesday in a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami decided that special artworks will be installed in both Shri Kedarnath and Shri Badrinath Dham with the objective of increasing the footfall of devotees.

Devotees will get a chance to witness historical, religious, and local folk traditions at both the Dhams.

It is noteworthy that various construction works are being done in Kedarnath and Badrinath Dham under the master plan and under this, special artefacts are to be installed at many places here.

These artefacts will provide mythological and historical information about both temples.
The Uttarakhand government has also approved the new policy for the service sector.

Through this, a target has been set to create 20 lakh employment opportunities and skill development of 10 lakh workers in Uttarakhand.