Char Dham yatra begins with strict norms
DEHRADUN: On the first day of Char Dham pilgrimage, which was allowed by the Uttarakhand high court with conditions, on Saturday scores of devotees, including 419 from other states, visited the four shrines by adhering to Covid-19 norms.
According to the Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board that manages the Char Dham shrines - Kedarnath in Rudraprayag district, Badrinath in Chamoli district, Yamunotri and Gangotri shrines in Uttarkashi district - a total of 335 devotees from other states visited Badrinath while 84 from other states visited Kedarnath shrine along with local devotees.
Data shared by the Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board on Saturday revealed that only local devotees visited Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines with none from other states till Saturday 4pm.
The board also informed that till the above-mentioned period on Saturday, a total of 19491 e-passes were issued to devotees wiling to visit the Char Dham shrines. Of the total e-passes, maximum 10,010 were issued for Kedarnath shrine followed by 4,830 for Badrinath, 2,375 for Gangotri and 2,276 for Yamunotri.
With the start of the Char Dham yatra, traders dependent on the annual pilgrimage expressed hope on earning “some livelihood with the year affected by Covid-19.”
One of the traders in Gangotri, Dwarikaprasad Kandwal, who sells puja items en-route the shrine, said, “Now with the yatra has started, we have some hope that we will manage to earn some livelihood in the year which was hugely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.”
“The step will surely impact the people living in the three districts hosting the Chat Dham shrines as they are very much dependent on the yatra to earn income. We wholeheartedly welcome this step which was being demanded by us for months,” said Semwal.
Bhawanilal Barthwal, a hotelier near Gangotri shrine, too welcomed the decision of starting the yatra and said, “Though only about a couple of months are left before the portals of the shrine will be closed, but we are hopeful of doing business in this brief period only to atleast earn something than nothing.”
Religious affairs and culture minister Satpal Maharaj on the starting of Char Dham yatra said that the move will “bring back livelihood of thousands on track.”
“The economy of the three aforementioned districts is largely dependent on the Yatra. Now it is started, we are hopeful that the livelihood of thousands of people will be back on track,” said Maharaj.
“Strict implementation of the SOP will be ensured amid the pandemic during the Yatra.”
On Friday evening, the state government had issued the SOP for the yatra, under which the main conditions for the yatra are negative RTPCR/TrueNat/CBNAAT/RAT Covid report (72 hours before) or certificate for both the Covid vaccine doses (15 days should have passed after both doses), registration on the state government portal smartcitydehradun.uk.gov.in (not required for people within the state) and seeking e-pass for Char Dham yatra from the website of the Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board.
The pilgrims from Kerala, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, even if they have received both the doses, are required to carry negative RTPCR/TrueNat/ CBNAAT/RAT COVID report (72 hours before) with them for seeking e-pass.
The daily limit of pilgrims has been set 1,000 for Badrinath, 800 for Kedarnath, 600 for Gangotri and 400 for Yamunotri shrines.