RISHIKESH, Uttarakhand—Under the leadership of Subedar Iqbal Singh, the army men of 418-Independent Engineer Group are continuously active to remove snow from footways leading to hilly Sikh shrine Sri Hemkunt Sahib. The army men are expected to pave way for Sikh pilgrims on footways by May 20 as the gates of Sri Hemkunt Sahib are scheduled to be reopened on May 25 this year.
It is pertinent to note here that the army men had begun efforts to remove snow in start of May month but the snowfall occurred from May 4 to May 10 had once again caused the deposition of snow on footways.
Sharing the development with Sikh24, Subedar Iqbal Singh informed that the army men have been working to remove snow from May 11 onwards. He added that they will complete the work of removing snow from footways by May 20 if the weather remained stable.
S. Narinderjit Singh Bindra, who is the vice president of Sri Hemkunt Sahib Management Trust, informed that Union State Minister Hardeep Singh Puri will flag off the first jatha of pilgrims on May 22 from Rishikesh.
On being contacted by Sikh24, the manager of Gurdwara Gobind Ghat S. Sewa Singh informed that the Management Trust has completed all the preparations for facilitating smooth journey to the pilgrims. He added that the telecommunication company BSNL has installed a tower in Gobind Dham which would benefit the pilgrims to contact their families using BSNL sim.
Situated at an altitude of 15,197 feet, Sri Hemkunt Sahib is a Sikh shrine in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, India. It is devoted to Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the tenth Sikh master, and finds mention in Dasam Granth, a work dictated by Guru Sahib himself. With its setting of a glacial lake surrounded by seven mountain peaks, each mountain is adorned by a Nishan Sahib on its cliff.
An appeal to Sikhs please sit down and read Guru Granth Sahib ji and you will understand this whole thing going to hemKunt is a cruel joke. There is no salvation in these yatra’s. Guru gobind Singh ji never visited that place.Please save your money and energy for useful work, help the needy, feed the poor that will give you salvation.