Monitor Char Dham yatra continuously, CM Dhami to officials amid pilgrim influx

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday chaired a review meeting on the Char Dham yatra at the state secretariat and asked officials to continuously monitor the yatra in view of the continuous surge in pilgrim influx.

The meeting comes a day after the Uttarakhand government announced measures such as stopping offline registration for next three days, not allowing the practice of VIP darshan at the Char Dham temples till May 31 and imposing a ban on videography and making social media reels within a 50 metre radius of the shrines to smoothly conduct the yatra.

Dhami took feedback from district magistrates of Rudraprayag, Uttarkashi, and Chamoli districts and conducted a ground inspection of arrangements in Barkot, which falls on the Yamunotri Dham route.

He instructed secretaries of all the departments to continuously monitor all the arrangements related to their departments on the Char Dham yatra routes and ask senior officials of their departments to assess the ground situation.

Also Read: Char Dham Yatra: Uttarakhand govt bans VIP darshan; curbs video shooting

The CM said that all the officials should fully cooperate with the DMs and SPs of the districts associated with the Char Dham yatra to ensure all kinds of arrangements for the pilgrims.

“Any kind of negligence will not be tolerated,” Dhami warned.

He directed that all the basic facilities like drinking water, electricity, toilets, food, milk for children and other necessary facilities should be ensured at places where arrangements have been made to accommodate the passengers.

“Adequate quantity of drinking water and other facilities should be made available to the devotees on the Char Dham pedestrian routes,” he said.

For better crowd management, CM Dhami said alternative routes should be arranged as per the requirement and devotees should also be given information about these routes.

Dhami said devotees should only be allowed to undertake the Char Dham yatra with prior registration.

“Offline registration shouldn’t be allowed for the time being,” he said.

Dhami told the transport secretary that special care should be taken of the fitness of the vehicles coming in for the Char Dham yatra.

“If any vehicle is plying on the yatra route without fitness, the concerned transport department officials should be held responsible for the same,” Dhami said.