By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 11 May: The state government seems to have woken up to the news of mismanagement of the Char Dham Yatra during the first week and to the fact that 21 persons have died because of health complications. Therefore, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami today held a review meeting in which he directed senior officials to ensure adequate arrangements for the smooth running of the Char Dham Yatra.
On his direction, Cabinet Minister Dhan Singh Rawat was made the nodal minister to supervise and monitor the arrangements for the Kedarnath Shrine, while Cabinet Minister Subodh Uniyal was made the nodal minister for the Badrinath Shrine. Both the ministers have been entrusted with the task of ensuring smooth and convenient movement and stay of pilgrims during the Yatra. Not only this, the maximum permissible daily limit for the number of pilgrims for each of the Dhams has also been raised by 1,000 persons.
In a meeting held at the Secretariat on Wednesday, the Chief Minister directed the officers to further strengthen the arrangements for the Char Dham Yatra and at the Char Dham shrines. He also directed further augmentation of health facilities along the Char Dham Yatra routes, provision of adequate number of toilets and to ensure their cleanliness. He stressed that the travel of pilgrims coming for the Yatra ought to be smooth and safe. He also directed the Tourism and Health Departments to issue detailed guidelines and give publicity to the things that the pilgrims coming for the Yatra ought to keep in mind. The CM said the devotees and tourists coming to Uttarakhand ought to return with a sense of satisfaction and wellbeing and it was the responsibility of all involved with the Char Dham Yatra to ensure this. He added that, along with the Char Dham Yatra, arrangements should be continuously reviewed for other tourist places as well.
On the instructions of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, during the first 45 days of the Char Dham Yatra, in view of the convenience of visiting pilgrims the maximum number allowed has been increased by one thousand for each shrine. In this regard, a new mandate has been issued by making partial amendment to the earlier one. According to the revised orders, for the first 45 days of the travel season for Char Dham Yatra, the maximum number of pilgrims for daily darshan has been raised to 8,000 in Gangotri, 5,000 in Yamunotri, 13,000 in Kedarnath and 16,000 in Badrinath.
At the directions of the CM, and particularly in the wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi having inquired about the reasons for the death of pilgrims, Director General of Health Dr Shailaja Bhatt also held a review meeting at the Health Directorate and directed measures to augment health and medical facilities along the Char Dham routes and in the four shrines.
