With heavy rains continuing to lash large swathes of Uttarakhand, the moot question being asked is will the state government succeed in removing the huge stone boulders and debris in Kedarnath by September as had been promised by chief minister Vijay Bahuguna.
Mr Bahuguna visited the shrine on Monday along with a team of officials from the Archaeological Survey of India, the Engineers (India) Projects Ltd (EIPL) and the Geological Survey of India to come up with an effective plan of action so that regular prayers can be started there at the earliest.
He was also accompanied by state chief secretary Subhash Kumar.
The EIPL has been roped into the project because they possess a dedicated team of 500 personnel with expertise in debris removal.
Mr Bahuguna is keen that all methods be explored and a large helipad be constructed at Kedarnath. This can be used to fly in Mi26 helicopters, which in turn can be used to transport large size equipment, including bulldozers, JCBs and power stone cutting tools.
While the ASI and GSI team will provide the technical advice, so as to ensure no further damage is done to the shrine, it is the EIPL which will do the actual debris clearing work.
The task is made more complex by the fact that there is a strong possibility of decomposing bodies lying under the debris and the 40 badly damaged structures that will have to be cleared. So far, two teams of experts have been sent to make a preliminary survey of the debris-hit Kedarnath. But no experts have wanted to stay there overnight largely because of the stench and because of the inclement weather conditions.
Sources admit that the entire operation is dependent on the weather since overcast skies are making it difficult for copters to land in Kedarnath. The state is racing against time as they have only six weeks to complete the first phase of the operations. The Kedar valley starts receiving snowfall from the month of September by which time it will become completely inhospitable.