This year’s Chardham Yatra will begin with the doors of the famous Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines located in the Upper Garhwal region of Uttarakhand being reopened for devotees after six months on Tuesday on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya. In view of the possibility of record devotees coming in the Chardham Yatra, which has been interrupted due to the COVID epidemic for the last two years, while the state government has fixed the number of pilgrims to visit each Dham daily, the police to ensure its smooth operation. By conducting a verification campaign, about two and a half thousand suspects have been identified and 10 of them have been arrested.
According to the information received from the temple committees, the doors of Gangotri and Yamunotri Dham located in Uttarkashi district will be opened on Tuesday at 11:15 am and 12:15 pm respectively. Spokesperson of Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee, Dr Harish Gaur said that the doors of Kedarnath temple in Rudraprayag district will open at 06:15 am on May 6, while the doors of Badrinath Dham in Chamoli district will be opened on May 8 at 06:25 am.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that all preparations have been made for the Chardham Yatra in the state. He said, “Lakhs of devotees will come to Chardham this year for whom all arrangements have been made by the state government to provide better facilities.” Meanwhile, in view of the huge rush of devotees thronging to register on the online portal of the tourism department for Chardhams, the state government has fixed the maximum number of devotees visiting the shrines daily.
According to an order issued in this regard by State Culture and Endowment Secretary Harichandra Semwal, a maximum of 15,000 pilgrims will be able to visit Badrinath every day, 12,000 in Kedarnath, 7,000 in Gangotri and 4,000 in Yamunotri. He said that this decision has been taken keeping in view the transportation, lodging, food, parking, geographical conditions of the state and the capacity of the temple and the capacity of the temple premises, he said.
He said that at present this arrangement is for the first 45 days. On the other hand, before the start of Chardham Yatra, a total of 2,526 people were found suspicious in the campaign conducted by the police for physical verification of people coming from outside in the state, out of which 10 were arrested. Director General of Police Ashok Kumar said that on the instructions of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, action has been taken against the remaining suspects found during the 10-day campaign from April 21, under the Police Act and other Acts.