Till now, 09 lakh 67 thousand 302 devotees have visited Chardham, efforts are being made to further improve the arrangements – Commissioner Garhwal
Commissioner Garhwal Vinay Shankar Pandey, while giving a press briefing regarding various arrangements for Chardham Yatra in the media center located at the Secretariat, said that Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is regularly reviewing the Chardham Yatra. He has given instructions that maximum attention should be given to safe travel. If the passengers are being accommodated at any place, then all basic facilities should be provided to them there. On the instructions of the Chief Minister, work is being done keeping in mind every facility of the devotees. People who had been staying for a week for the Chardham Yatra are being sent on the yatra. At present the Yatra is going on smoothly in all the four Dhams. Continuous efforts are being made to improve travel arrangements. The Chief Minister has given instructions that the cleanliness arrangements in all the four Dhams should be of high quality. Two special officers have been deployed for this. Instructions have been given to deploy Special Sector Magistrates at halting places. The Sector Magistrate will send a report on the cleanliness system every two hours.
Commissioner Garhwal said that the doors of Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri were opened for devotees on May 10, 2024 and Badrinath on May 12. Since then, till May 23, 2024, a total of 09 lakh 67 thousand 302 devotees have visited the four Dhams. 01 lakh 79 thousand 932 devotees have visited Yamunotri Dham, 01 lakh 66 thousand 191 in Gangotri Dham, 04 lakh 24 thousand 242 in Kedarnath and 01 lakh 96 thousand 937 devotees have visited Badrinath Dham. This year almost double the number of devotees have visited in the first fortnight as compared to previous years. Garhwal Commissioner said that the help of NDRF and ITBP will be taken only when necessary for crowd management in Chardham Yatra.
Commissioner Garhwal said that in the initial days of Chardham Yatra, the number of devotees increased rapidly and problems of traffic jam also arose. Some cases were also found in which the pilgrims were registered for darshan later, but they started the journey earlier. Some complaints of fake registration were also received, in this regard three FIRs were registered against various tour operators in Rishikesh, 01 in Haridwar and 09 in Rudraprayag. Very strict instructions have been given that the journey will not be allowed under any circumstances without registration and before the due date of registration.
Commissioner Garhwal said that so far 52 devotees who had come for Chardham Yatra have died. In which most of the people are above 60 years of age. Most of the deaths occurred due to heart attack. 03 devotees have died in Gangotri, 12 in Yamunotri, 14 in Badrinath and 23 in Kedarnath. Regular screening of devotees is being done. Many devotees are being advised not to travel after receiving medical treatment and care by doctors. Even after that, if any devotee is going on a yatra, then action is being taken to get him to fill the form in writing. Garhwal Commissioner said that pilgrimage and tourism have an important contribution in the economy of Uttarakhand. Chardham Yatra plays an important role in increasing the economy of the state. Garhwal Commissioner informed that while going to Kedarnath, there was a technical problem in the hydraulic system of a helicopter, due to the wisdom of the pilot, it made a soft landing. There were 06 passengers from Tamil Nadu, all are safe. Yukada is taking advance action on this entire issue. Yukada has reported this entire incident to DGCA.
