ITBP Deployed To Guard Badrinath-Kedarnath

On Wednesday, a temple official said that the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) will keep watch over the snow-bound Kedarnath and Badrinath temples.

PTI

Updated on: 21 December 2022 8:28 am

Badrinath Temple in Uttarakhand

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has been deployed to keep a vigil around the snowbound Kedarnath and Badrinath temples during winter, a temple official said on Wednesday.

The deployment of ITBP personnel at the two temples was necessary from the security point of view, Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee chairman Ajendra Ajay told PTI on Wednesday.

The high-altitude temples become almost empty during winter as permanent residents move to lower areas because of heavy snow, he said.

The deployment was also made to secure the Kedarnath Temple, the outer walls of which have recently been gold-plated.

The renovation and beautification work was completed before the temple’s closure for winter in October this year. Badrinath temple is also being redeveloped according to a masterplan, Ajay said.

"With the recent facelift undertaken at Kedarnath it was more at risk because there was an incident of theft at the temple some years ago," Ajay said.

The BKTC Chairman said he had written to Chief Secretary SS Sandhu to step up security around the temples.?

A request for deployment of ITBP personnel was sent to the home ministry which gave its clearance to the proposal recently.