Panel expects reconstruction to cost Rs 20 bn

Media reports indicate that the Kedarnath-Badrinath Temple Committee has pegged the cost of reconstruction of the Kedarnath shrine and neighbouring areas at Rs 2,000 crore. Of this, the committee has reportedly requested the Uttarakhand government for an immediate release of Rs 200 crore. The committee has asked the state government to reconstruct the Kedarnath temple shrine as well as Kedarnathpuri, the surrounding area, in strict compliance with a detailed master plan. The committee suggested the government to set up a high-powered committee comprising soil and water conservationists, as well as archaeologists and geologists to assess the situation. Meanwhile, some observers feel that laxity in the implementation of the Kedarnath master plan may be responsible for the massive loss of life and property in the region. The master plan was prepared by Uttarakhand's urban planning department in 2008, Kedarnath's first master plan was prepared for development between 1980 and 2001. In 2008, Uttarakhand government ordered a revision of the master plan after finding that the growth in number of tourists, along with commercial and residential spaces, had far outnumbered the numbers envisaged in the original plan.