dehradun

Updated: Mar 09, 2018 21:39 IST

Kedarpuri, the Himalayan shrine town in Uttarakhand will soon be developed under a Smart City project envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an official said.

“Pilgrims visit a religious place like Kedarpuri, so they could experience a sense of peace and spirituality forgetting their day-to-day problems,” said chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh. “The Smart City project aims to facilitate that blissful experience besides safety.”

The move comes months after Modi laid the foundation stone for the much-publicised Kedarpuri reconstruction project during his visit to Kedarnath on October 20 last year. Since then, he has been constantly monitoring his “dream project” amid reports that he might inaugurate the BJP’s election campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from the shrine town in the fabled Chardham.

Recently, he reviewed the project watching the images of the reconstruction work directly transmitted to the Prime Minister’s Office through a number of high resolution drone cameras from the ground zero. “The Prime Minister now wants that all state-of- the- art technologies are utilised in implementing the proposed Smart City project,” Singh said. “The blueprint for the project is being prepared and would be implemented by next year.”

The smart city project would be an extension of the Kedarpuri reconstruction project, he said. “The public address system would be used to regulate crowd in the temple premise area,” Singh said. “Besides, through piping music system, spiritual songs would be broadcast to give it a spiritual feel.”

Singh added that through that system, the history and importance of all important areas in Kedarpuri, including the Kedarnath shrine would also be broadcast. “For example the broadcast system will tell pilgrims about the importance of the mausoleum of Guru Shankaracharya situated at Kedarpuri,” he said. The eighth century mystic philosopher is believed to have died in the shrine town.

Besides, as part of the smart city project the entire approach road from Bhim Bali to Kedarnath would be reconstructed. “A number of facilities would also be developed along that path for the convenience of piligrms,” he said.

Singh further added that implementing the smart city project would be challenging in view of the terrain of the shrine town. “However, we will overcome all the challenges with the help of the latest technologies available.” If required, drone cameras and night vision cameras would also be used to regulate the crowd, he added.