CM reviews arrangements for smooth conduct of Char Dham Yatra
By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 16 May: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami today held a review meeting at the Secretariat here on the ongoing Char Dham Yatra. During the meeting, he directed the officials that for a safe and smooth Char Dham Yatra, senior officials of the government and police should look at the travel arrangements at Ground Zero. The Chief Minister asserted that it is the top priority of the state government to ensure safety of all the devotees coming on Char Dham Yatra. He urged the devotees to come for darshan as per the date given to them. He also requested all the devotees to come on Char Dham Yatra only after health checkup and after seeing the weather forecast. He said that the top priority of the state government is that the Char Dham Yatra should be safe for all the devotees.
The Chief Minister directed that the arrangements for VIP darshan in all the four Dhams be postponed till 31 May.
Dhami instructed the officials that the devotees coming on Char Dham Yatra should be sent for darshan only as per the daily capacity fixed at the four Dhams. Registration systems should be further strengthened. He made it clear that the devotees must be allowed to proceed beyond the check point only after they are registered for the Char Dham Yatra. He directed the Transport Department, Revenue Department and Police Department to jointly conduct checks at the check posts. Offline registration should be stopped for the next three days. It should be ensured that the Char Dham Yatra runs as per the rules. The Chief Minister directed that arrangements for strict checking should be ensured at the entry points of all the routes of Char Dham and also in Vikasnagar, Yamuna Bridge area, Dhanaulti and Suvakholi. Full care should also be taken of the convenience of pilgrims at these places.
The Chief Minister said that to ensure that all the relevant information related to Char Dham Yatra arrangements reaches the people, the senior officials of the government should hold media briefings every day. All information related to the yatra should be made available to the media for further dissemination to the general public. Dhami directed the officials to pay special attention to crowd management and travel management during the Char Dham Yatra. He instructed the Director General of Police (DGP) to personally conduct on-site inspection for traffic management and crowd management and also to ensure that responsibility of traffic management is handed over to senior police officers in the four Dhams. All officers should discharge their responsibilities as colleagues.
Dhami asserted that Char Dham Yatra is the lifeline of the state and it boosts the economy in a major way. With the rapid increase in the number of devotees in the Char Dham Yatra, it is the responsibility of all to cooperate in making the Yatra smoother and simple. Continuous efforts are being made by the state government to further improve the systems. He observed that all the districts related to the Char Dham Yatra routes need to work in coordination to strengthen the Yatra arrangements. He also expected all the devotees to pay attention to following health standards during their religious pilgrimage to these Dhams.
In the meeting, the CM also sought details about various arrangements related to Char Dham Yatra from the District Magistrates of Rupradprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts through virtual medium and also sought to know from them if any support is required from the government level.
Present at the meeting were Vice President of State Disaster Management Vinay Rohila, Chief Secretary Radha Raturi, DGP Abhinav Kumar, Principal Secretary RK Sudhanshu, Secretaries R Meenakshi Sundaram, Shailesh Bagoli, Arvind Singh Hayanki, Sachin Kurve, Dr Pankaj Kumar Pandey, Secretary and Garhwal Commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey, Special Secretary Ridhim Aggarwal, Director General, Information, Banshidhar Tiwari and District Magistrates and SPs of the districts related to Char Dham Yatra through virtual medium.