Trivendra Singh Rawat not happy with Yatra management
By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 22 May: Former Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has openly expressed his displeasure at the alleged mismanagement of the Char Dham Yatra. Rawat is very upset over the alleged huge chaos in the Chardham Yatra. He today described the Yatra management system as a complete failure of the system. Rawat expressed his apprehensions in a social media post which has gone viral today.
A video of former Chief Minister Trivendra is currently viral on social media, in which he is seen speaking informally with some media persons. In response to a question regarding the “chaos” in the Char Dham Yatra arrangements, Rawat laid the blame on the state and the district administrations. He also disagreed with the suggestions that deployment of forces and administration on election duty could be the reason behind this chaos. Rawat said that, while it is true that a number of police officials and some from the state or district administration may still be deployed on election duty, the polling in Uttarakhand for the Lok Sabha Elections was held on 19 April during the first phase itself, while the Char Dham Yatra began much after that. He did not hesitate to call the current chaos in this regard as an indication of systemic failure. He has directly called out the administration for this failure. He said that the officers have not done their duty and prepared in an earnest manner and are now trying to offer the elections as an excuse behind inadequate arrangements.
This statement of Trivendra Singh Rawat is being seen as having political connotations. So far, no BJP leader has reacted to this allegation of the former CM.
Meanwhile, the state machinery continues to face unprecedented challenges in the management of the Char Dham Yatra. The confusion is also affecting the business of many stakeholders related to the Char Dham Yatra like the transporters and travel agencies. With Offline, i.e., physical registration in Rishikesh and Haridwar having been postponed till 31 May by the Uttarakhand Government, hundred of tour operators are left stranded. Hundreds of vehicles operated under the Joint Rotation Travel Arrangement Committee are standing for the last 10 days despite securing enough bookings. The Committee has announced that in case the government does not open Offline registrations immediately, then all the vehicle owners will surrender their permits at the RTO Office and demand return of the permit fee by 31 May. In case the government pays no heed to their demand, they threaten to boycott the Char Dham Yatra altogether.
Chairman of the Chardham Yatra Rotation Vyavastha Committee, Naveen Chand Ramola described the decision to suspend offline registrations as a Tughlaqi one. He asserted that the government had taken this decision without properly understanding the ground situation and also without any consideration of how it affects the interests of various stakeholders. Ramola claimed that the officials of various departments are not sending ground reports to the government. The decision to close offline registration till 31 May is not practical at all. He said that the image of Uttarakhand state has also been tarnished due to the deteriorating Yatra arrangements. He reminded that the before the commencement of the Char Dham Yatra, the State Transport Department issues a green signal to the tour operators to be ready with their vehicles for the Yatra. Ramola said that the vehicles owners spend heavily on maintenance and fitness of their vehicles and for the permits, but now the vehicles are left stranded, waiting to travel. This has caused huge losses to the tour operators. He added that about 20,000 passengers were left stranded in Rishikesh and many in Haridwar in the past few days. Over 50 percent of pilgrims who had arrived for the Yatra have returned without darshan. Frustrated with the government’s system, all the motor owners have decided that, by 31 May, everyone will submit the permits of their vehicles to the Transport Department office.
Sanjay Shastri, former chairman of the Joint Rotation Vyavashta Committee, claimed that, at present, a large number of people arriving at various Dhams in private vehicles are not coming for pilgrimage but for tourism. Such people should not be given priority in comparison to those who come genuinely for pilgrimage and travel on public transport. The tour operators are also claiming that the condition of the Char Dham roads is not very good and there is debris lying all over, which is itself leading to more traffic jams. The tour operators and the vehicle owners have threatened a total boycott of the Yatra this year if the system does not improve.
