Dehradun: Union Water Resources minister Uma Bharti reportedly said that the Uttarakhand floods was caused due to defecation near the Kedarnath shrine.
A Hindustan Times report quoted Bharti saying that atheists who came to the holy site defecated near the natural boundary formed by the Mandakini and Saraswati rivers, which flowed near the shrine in 1882.
Bharti, who visited the Dehradun-based Himalayan Institute of Glaciology and Forest Research Institute experts, said the disrespect resulted in nature’s fury at Kedarnath in 2013.
Bharti was in Dehradun to discuss the reconstruction of Kedarnath temple.
The report said, she also mentioned that cloudbursts and excessive rains were the primary cause of the floods, but the 'underlying reason' was the excretory functions taking place near the shrine.
