The Chief Minister's Office of Uttarakhand on Thursday, 25 June 2026 announced the sanction of funds for beautification and development work at two religious sites across separate assembly constituencies in the state — Dharchula in Pithoragarh district and Salt in Almora district.

According to the official post, Rs 85 lakh has been approved for the beautification of the Shri Hayao Guru Dev and Gaireng Temple and the construction of a boundary wall (chhahardeewari) at Gram Sabha Baun under the Dharchula Vidhan Sabha constituency in Pithoragarh district. Separately, Rs 50.08 lakh has been sanctioned for the beautification of the fair ground (mela sthal) of Kulantheshwar Mahadev in the Salt Vidhan Sabha constituency. The combined outlay stands at Rs 1,35,08,000.

Context

Dharchula is a border assembly segment in Pithoragarh district, part of Uttarakhand's Kumaon division, sharing a frontier with Nepal. The area is home to remote hill villages including Gram Sabha Baun, where the twin shrines of Hayao Guru Dev and Gaireng hold deep local religious significance. Salt constituency falls in Almora district, another Kumaon hill segment, where the Kulantheshwar Mahadev temple hosts an annual fair that draws pilgrims from across the region.

Policy Backdrop

Successive Uttarakhand governments have channelled modest grants toward temple upkeep, boundary-wall construction, and fair-ground development in hill districts as part of efforts to promote religious tourism and preserve community shrines. Such sanctions typically flow through the Chief Minister's Office or the culture and tourism departments, targeting both major pilgrimage circuits and smaller, community-level sacred sites. The twin announcements on 25 June 2026 fit this established pattern of small-scale but symbolically significant infrastructure grants ahead of festival and pilgrimage seasons.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries are local residents of Gram Sabha Baun in Dharchula and the pilgrims and devotees who attend the annual Kulantheshwar Mahadev fair in Salt. Boundary-wall construction at the Baun site is expected to provide structural protection to the temple complex, while beautification work at both locations aims to improve the experience for visitors. Improved infrastructure at such sites also supports the livelihoods of local vendors and service providers who depend on pilgrim footfall.

What's Next

The next milestones will be the initiation of tendering processes and the release of funds to executing agencies for both projects. Utilisation certificates will eventually be required to confirm that the sanctioned amounts have been deployed as specified. Similar small-scale sanctions for other Kumaon and Garhwal constituencies are likely to follow as the state government continues its phased approach to religious-site development across Uttarakhand.