HC notice to U’khand on opening pilgrimage
State asked to reply by June 21 on the number of people to be deployed to ensure that pilgrims adhere to SOPs against covid
DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand high court directed the state government on Wednesday to file a report by June 21 on its decision to open Char Dham yatra in different phases and preparations made to ensure health safety of pilgrims amid the pandemic.
The court asked for information on the number of people to be deployed to ensure that pilgrims adhere to standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued by the Centre and the state government.
The HC also directed the government to inform about the sanitisation of the 16-km trek that pilgrims take to reach the Kedarnath shrine, infrastructure facilities and the equipment provided for the sanitisation.
A division bench of Chief Justice RS Chauhan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma gave the directions through the tourism secretary while hearing a bunch of PILs. Sachdanand Dabral, Dushyant Mainali, Anu Pant and Rajendra Arya have filed the PILs related to issues regarding the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic in the state. The next hearing in the case has been fixed on June 23. HT has a copy of the order. The state government also filed its affidavit to the court on Wednesday.
Responding to it, the court said, “A bare perusal of the affidavit… clearly reveals that the said affidavit is devoid of any cogent and concrete supporting evidence for the statements made in the affidavit... Dilip Jawalkar, secretary, tourism, informs this court that the government has so far taken a decision not to open the Char Dham yatra for the visiting pilgrims till June 22, 2021...that in case the Char Dham yatra were to be opened for the pilgrims, it would be done phase-wise, and not at one go.
“However, how many phases will be created, how many people in each phase will be permitted, the people from which areas will be permitted to visit the shrines, is all yet to be decided by the state.”
Shiv Bhatt, counsel for Sachdanand Dabral, told HC that although the number of Covid cases is on the decline, considering the fact that last year about 300,000 pilgrims had visited Char Dham, strict vigilance and implementation of the SOPs need to be done by the state government. According to Bhatt, even if 1,000 persons are permitted to simultaneously enter a temple without using masks and sanitisers and maintaining social distancing, the Char Dham yatra may also emerge as a breeding ground for Covid-19 cases.
Abhijay Negi, counsel for two petitioners, told HC that there are two ways of reaching the Kedarnath shrine -- by helicopter and a 16-km trek. Negi said that as most of the people use the 16-km trek, it is imperative that the trekking route be sanitised regularly.
On June 9, while expressing displeasure over tourism secretary Dilip Jawalkar not having visited Char Dham, the court had directed him to inform what the preparations and measures the government had taken for phase-wise opening of Char Dham yatra.