Char Dham: CM Dhami orders officials to suspend offline registration for 3 days

DEHRADUN: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Thursday ordered officials to stop offline registration of pilgrims for the Char Dham Yatra for three days given a record influx of devotees.

The offline registration is done at registration centres in Haridwar and Rishikesh. Online registration, which started on April 15, will continue. Dhami issued the instructions at a meeting to review the Char Dham Yatra arrangements on Thursday.

The chief minister told senior police and administrative officials to monitor yatra arrangements at ground zero for a safe and smooth yatra. “Our first priority is the safety of all the devotees coming for yatra. All the devotees should come for darshan as per the date given to them on registration. Pilgrims should come only after health check-up and checking the weather forecast,” he said.

The officials were also told to allow pilgrims for darshan in line with the daily capacity fixed for the four shrines.

“Devotees will be allowed to proceed beyond the checkpoints only if registered for the Yatra. Transport department, revenue department and police department should jointly man the check posts. Offline registration should be suspended for the next three days. Arrangements for strict checking should be ensured at the entry points of all the routes of Char Dham and also in Vikasnagar, Yamuna Bridge area, Dhanaulti, Suvakholi,” Dhami said.

From May 10 to Tuesday evening, close to 270,000 pilgrims visited the Char Dham shrines, with 23,824 vehicles playing on the yatra routes. According to official data, Badrinath has had 39,304 visitors, Kedarnath 126,306, Gangotri 48,378 and Yamunotri 59,158 during this period. To be sure, there could be an overlap as some pilgrims might visit more than one shrine in a day.

Dhami also sought information about various arrangements related to yatra from the District Magistrates of Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts during the review meeting.