Govt plans mobile app for Chardham registration
The Uttarakhand government is planning to launch a dedicated mobile app through which pilgrims from across the country will be able to register for the six-month-long annual Chardham yatra that starts from April 18.
The final presentation of the app will be given on Monday. “If found suitable, pilgrims will be able to register for the Chardham yatra (pilgrimage) using their touch phones,” VS Chauhan, joint director, Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board, said.
The official said the app could be downloaded from playstores, which would be available on mobile phones of all companies.
“The app has been designed in a manner that pilgrims would also receive weather updates on their mobile phones while undertaking the yatra,” he said clarifying that no fee would be charged from pilgrims for online registration for the yatra.
Chauhan said pilgrims “are charged fee when they register” themselves online for the yatra on the tourism department’s website. “However, no such fee is charged from them when they come to our counters for registration before they embark on the pilgrimage,” he said, adding that additional 30 such counters had been set up on various points of the yatra route including Rishikesh.
The official, however, revealed that a blanket ban had been imposed on use of plastics during the pilgrimage to the four fabled shrines of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamnotri. “Plastics of all kinds including plastic bottles and stuffs prepared from thermocol sheet will not be allowed during the Chardam,” he said, adding that the step had been initiated in view of the ecological and environmental fragility of the high altitude (Chardham) area.
“The use of plastic, which is a non-biodegradable substance, has also been banned in view of the sensitivity shown by the National Green Tribunal (NGT),” Chauhan said. “The implementation of the ban order would be ensured at the level of the district magistrates or various local panchayat bodies.”