Uttarakhand Char Dham yatra: CM halts offline registrations till 31 May, sanctum sanctorum entry in Kedarnath
Dehradun: As the pilgrim influx in Char Dham shrines is setting new records every day, the Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami decided on Monday to halt the offline registrations at Haridwar and Rishikesh till 31 May. In a new development, all the pilgrims will be allowed in the sanctum sanctorum of Kedarnath shrine from today.
The pilgrim’s footfall is making new record every day
According to state tourism department data, so far, over 7 lakh pilgrims have visited the Char Dham shrines in the last 10 days. Over 2.8 lakh pilgrims have visited Kedarnath shrine, 1.2 lakh visited Badrinath shrine, 1.25 have visited Yamunotri shrine and 1.12 lakh have visited Gangotri shrine till Sunday after the Char Dham pilgrimage commenced on 10 May this month. In the last four days, 1.26 lakh pilgrims paid their obeisance at Kedarnath shrine only. In view of this surge in footfall, the CM Dhami took this decision to halt the offline registration till 31 May during a review meeting on Monday.
No priority will be given to the pilgrims using Heli-services
After an uproar among shrines priests for keeping pilgrims on priority who use Heli-services to reach Kedarnath shrine, the Badrinath-Kedarnath temple committee (BKTC) took this decision on Monday to put an end to the arrangement of separate queue for these pilgrims. The president of Kedar Sabha, Rajkumar Tiwari said that there should be a uniform arrangement for all the pilgrims without any discrimination. It is surprising that VIP darshan is on halt till 31 May yet Heli users are given a VIP treatment.
All the devotees will be allowed inside sanctum sanctorum
After a discussion between Teerth Purohit Samiti (Priests community) and temple committee along with local administration on Monday, this decision was taken with consensus that all the devotees in Kedarnath will be allowed in sanctum sanctorum to have the darshan of Lord Kedarnath. Notably, the district administration had banned the entry of devotees inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple on 11 May after heavy turnout of pilgrims. The shrine priests have protested against this decision of local administration after which this new arrangement has been made at the shrine.
Weekly report on Char Dham yatra
Uttarakhand CM Dhami also instructed additional chief secretary Anand Bardhan to prepare a weekly report on Char Dham pilgrimage. Moreover, the police and government officials who have been given the responsibility of nodal officers in Kedarnath and Yamunotri will remain in touch with ground operations continuously for the smooth operation of the yatra.