By Our Staff Reporter
DEHRADUN, 19 Nov: Chardham Yatra of world famous Uttarakhand has created a new record this year. More than 46 lakh pilgrims visited the four Dhams. With the closure of the doors of Badrinath Dham on 19 November i.e. Saturday, the focus of the Uttarakhand government is now on the winter Chardham Yatra.
On October 26, Gangotri Dham, on October 27 the doors of Kedarnath and Yamunotri Dham were closed with rituals. On November 19, the doors of Shri Badrinath Dham were closed for the next six months. After the closure of the doors of Gangotri Dham, worship will be done at Mukhba during winter migration, Kharsali of Yamunotri, Ukhimath of Kedarnath and Joshimath and Pandukeshwar of Badrinath Dham. All the facilities are being taken care of for the pilgrims and devotees during the winter stay of Chardham.
Registration of pilgrims was made mandatory for the Char Dham Yatra which was conducted without restrictions this time after two difficult years of the Corona period. For this, a mobile app was arranged by the tourism department along with online and offline. Staff were deployed at Chardhams including Hemkund Sahib for verification of registration. This system was implemented to estimate the number of pilgrims in the Chardham Yatra, so that suddenly a large number of pilgrims do not reach any Dham at once and they are protected from any kind of trouble. Apart from this, cameras were also installed at more than 30 places on the yatra routes. Toll free number 1364 was also issued by the tourism department for the convenience of the pilgrims. In order to provide better health facilities to the pilgrims in Chardhams, for the first time the health department started health screening at nine places along the Yatra routes. 30 doctors were given special training to treat the adverse effects of cold and lack of oxygen on health in high altitude areas. Apart from this, 12 doctors were deputed for heart patients after giving them training in cardiology.
Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj said, “Chardham Yatra has created a new record. Now the focus of the government is on Chardham Yatra in winter”. He said, “Winter Char Dham Yatra will prove to be important for promoting winter tourism. Our focus is on the promotion of winter Chardham along with the facilities for the pilgrims. The record-breaking number of pilgrims who visited Chardham Yatra this year has made up for the loss incurred by the businessmen associated with Chardham Yatra in the last two years. The state government is committed to provide every facility and service to the tourists and pilgrims coming to Uttarakhand”.
