Char Dham to be reconstructed in much better way: Chiranjeevi

NEW DELHI: The devastation caused at the 'char dham' pilgrimage circuit by floods in Uttarakhand recently has served the tourism ministry "a good lesson" which it would remember while launching reconstruction drive at these holy places, Tourism Minister K Chiranjeevi today said.

Speaking at the sidelines of the tourism ministers' conference, he said Char Dham would be reconstructed in a "much better way" so that if such unforeseeable calamity occurs again, its adverse impact could be minimised.

He said it was for the Uttarakhand government to decide if tourism flow to the ecologically fragile region needed to be regulated. He said pilgrims to Bodhgaya in Bihar were not deterred by the attacks by the bomb blasts of July 7 and showed "tremendous guts" by turning up for prayers in large numbers from the very next day.

Home ministry, he said, was taking security measures to ensure such incidents did not recur.