U’KHAND GOVT MAY STILL HOLD CHAR DHAM YATRA

The Uttarakhand government, widely criticised for its mishandling of the Mahakumbh, resulting in a spike in Covid-19 cases, will hold a meeting on Thursday to decide the fate of the Char Dham yatra scheduled to start from May 14 .

The meeting, held under the chairmanship of state tourism minister Satpal Maharaj will decide whether the popular pilgrimage, to the four holy towns of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Tamunotri, will be restricted to local pilgrims, held in a symbolic way, or be open to a limited number of pilgrims from around the country.

HT learns that the state government is not in favour of calling off the yatra, although it is worried about the backlash if it goes ahead, especially after its experience with the Mahakumbh. There is also a possibility that the Union government, which allowed the Kumbh to go ahead, may be more proactive when it comes to calling off the Char Dham yatra, especially given the surging second wave of the coronavirus disease.

The number of active Covid-19 cases in the state has increased from 2,236 on April 1, when the Kumbh started to 45,383 on Wednesday.

The event also saw the death of four senior seers from Covid. The state on Wednesday reported 6054 fresh cases and 108 deaths .

Ravinath Raman, chief executive officer of Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board said all issues related to the Char Dham yatra will be decided in the meeting of the the board chaired by Satpal Maharaj on Thursday.