Chopper companies overcharging pilgrims;
By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 24 May: Rawal Peethadhishwar Bhima Shankar Linga of Kedar Dham is currently undergoing treatment at a local hospital in Dehradun. He had faced some cardiac issues three days ago following which he was airlifted from Ukhimath to Dehradun and admitted to a private hospital here. Under treatment here, he spoke to some media persons during an informal chat regarding the ongoing Char Dham Yatra. He welcomed the monitoring of the Central Government of the Char Dham Yatra and said that the system will improve only in case strict steps are taken for the regulation of the Yatra management. He also sought to blame negligence of the district and the state administration for the chaos that prevailed in the initial days of the Yatra. He also claimed that he had been informed by many that helicopter tickets are being sold at prices higher than fixed for Kedarnath Dham. He asserted that the aviation companies operating chopper services are not accepting digital transactions as they were charging more than the fixed rates from the pilgrims.
Bhimashankar Linga asserted that strict norms will have to be made and implemented for the management of the Kedar Nath Yatra as per the age of the devotees. He said that religious pilgrimages are conducted in Tirupati and Vaishno Devi strictly under a regulated environment and they are conducted in an orderly manner. Once strict rules are made, devotees will be forced to follow the rules sooner or later.
Linga claimed that the chaos spread during the Yatra this year due to the laxity of the administration. The officials posted in the districts could not estimate the crowd of devotees. This was the reason that the top officials of Garhwal Administration were not able to work out an effective strategy.
Linga reminded that CM Dhami had to himself go to Yamunotri and only after he saw the ground reality, the yatra management improved. Now after the intervention of the Centre, one can hope that the influx of devotees will be controlled. He said that norms should be finalised only after taking suggestions from the stakeholders, the Teerth Purohits as well as the local people of the Kedar valley and the local people from the other Dhams. Bhimashankar Linga said that devotees should be allowed to move on the foot trek of Kedar Dham as per their age. Strict rules will have to be made and restrictions will have to be imposed on bringing elderly people and children along.
Linga also expressed concern over black marketing of helicopter tickets. He said that PM Modi promotes digital cash transactions but in Kedar Dham area, heli companies are only accepting cash against the tickets. He said that complaints in this regard have reached him in regard of overcharging the pilgrims. Bhimashankar Linga said that Char Dhams of Uttarakhand should retain the identity of the original pilgrimage site instead of turning into a picnic spot or just another weekend destination.
