After heavy footfall, ITBP cleans Badrinath temple area

 In a first of its kind, women personnel of the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) carried out a cleanliness campaign in the Badrinath temple premises in Uttarakhand, officials said on Wednesday.

Twenty personnel who are undergoing advanced training course at the Mountaineering and Skiing Institute at Auli in the state carried out the task in the temple area and the Alaknanda ghats on Tuesday.

"We got a request from the Badrinath temple authority to clean the premises as this year a large number of pilgrims have visited the town," an official said.

Cleaning the Alaknanda ghats was a difficult task.

The ITBP personnel had to get down from a bridge with the help of ropes and other equipment to pick all the garbage that was blocking the flow of water. 

This had to be done before the rains set in and swell the river, the officials said.

Since May, ITBP has carried around half a dozen cleanliness drives in the Badrinath temple premises. 

"This year we are expecting a record footfall of pilgrims. Till June 10, around 15 lakh people have come," the official said.

Badrinath is one of the four revered sites of 'Chardam' in Uttarakhand, the others being Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Gangotri. IANS