Over 9, 67,302 devotees have visited Char Dham, 52 have died during Yatra
By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 24 May: Commissioner Garhwal Vinay Shankar Pandey, today again held a press briefing at the Media Centre located at the Secretariat regarding the arrangements for the Char Dham Yatra. Pandey stressed that Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is regularly reviewing the Char Dham Yatra. The CM has given instructions that maximum focus should be laid on safe travel of the pilgrims. Pandey added that the CM has further directed that the passengers being accommodated at any of the holding places along the Yatra route should be provided all basic facilities.
The Garhwal Commissioner further stated that on the instructions of the Chief Minister, all efforts are being made to provide all necessary facilities like accommodation, food, water and electricity and milk etc to the devotees.
He also claimed that the pilgrims waiting for more than a week for their registrations in Rishikesh and Haridwar are now being sent to the Yatra and asserted that at present the Yatra is going on smoothly in all the four Dhams. Continuous efforts are being made to improve travel arrangements. Pandey said that the Chief Minister has given instructions that the cleanliness and sanitation arrangements in all the four Dhams should be of high quality. In order to ensure this, 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.
Reminding that the portals of Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines were opened for devotees on 10 May while for Badrinath had opened on 12 May, he informed that since then, till yesterday, a total of 9.6730 lakh devotees have visited the four Dhams.
Of them, 1, 79,932 pilgrims have visited Yamunotri, 1,66,191 pilgrims have visited the Gangotri Dham, 4,24, 242 pilgrims have visited Kedarnath while 1,96,937 devotees have visited Badrinath Dham. He asserted that this year almost double the number of devotees have visited during the first fortnight of the Yatra season as compared to previous years. The Garhwal Commissioner said that the help of NDRF and ITBP will be taken only when necessary for crowd management in Char Dham Yatra.
Pandey admitted that in the initial days of Char Dham 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 cases of fake registrations were also detected and in this regard, three FIRs were registered against various tour operators in Rishikesh, 1 in Haridwar and 9 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.
The Commissioner Garhwal also admitted that so far 52 devotees who had come for Char Dham Yatra have died. Most of whom who have died so far are of age above 60 years. He claimed that most of the deaths occurred due to heart attack. Sharing the details, he informed that 3 devotees have died in Gangotri, 12 in Yamunotri, 14 in Badrinath and 23 in Kedarnath so far. 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 a form in writing.
Pandey said that pilgrimage and tourism have an important contribution in the economy of Uttarakhand. Char Dham Yatra plays an important role in boosting the economy of the state. He also shared that today a chopper in Kedarnath had developed a technical glitch with respect to its hydraulic system but the pilot wisely managed to save the lives after ensuring a soft landing. He said that UCADA is investigating the incident and taking due action in this regard.
Director General Information, Bansidhar Tiwari was also present on the occasion.
