The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra is set to resume through Nathula in June of this year, following a five-year break caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Doklam conflict in 2017. The construction of infrastructure is nearly complete, and final preparations are being made for the route through Sikkim’s Indo-China border. According to Sunil Kumar, the worker in-charge of the building project, the acclimation centers’ repairs and renovations should be completed within the next four to five days.
“Soon, the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra will begin. Within the following four to five days, the acclimatization centers’ refurbishment and reconstruction should be finished. Along the way, acclimatization centers are being built. There will be between fifty and sixty persons at the acclimatization center,” Kumar said. Along the route, two acclimatization centers are being set up: one at the 16th Mile (10,000 feet) and another along the Kupup Road (14,000 feet) close to Hangu Lake.
Along with a medical center, office, kitchen, and other necessary amenities for pilgrims, each center will have two structures with five beds and two buildings with two beds. Local resident and 2016 yatra member IK Rasaily praised the reopening and highlighted the anticipated economic boost for nearby areas. Thinley Tshering Bhutia, an MLA for Kabi Lungchok, also thanked the federal and state administrations for starting the yatra’s reopening through Sikkim. “Sikkim is a peaceful state with no history of terrorist activity, making this the safest route for Mansarovar pilgrims,” Bhutia said.
