Char Dham Yatra postponed for non-U'khand devotees, number of locals capped

DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand state government on Tuesday capped the number of pilgrims for Char Dham Yatra which has been postponed till June 30. 

The number of pilgrims has been limited to 1200 for Badrinath, 800 for Kedarnath, 600 for Gangotri and 400 for Yamunotri shrine. 

Madan Kaushik, state cabinet minister and spokesperson for the state government said, "The decision of capping and postponing the yatra has been taken after consulting the priests from the Char Dham and other stake holders."

The decision came after opposition from priests body, traders and stakeholders from hospitality sector citing the threat of COVID-19 spread in the remotest corner of the hills of the state. 

Meanwhile, except the four shrines- Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri,  many other religious places in the state were opened for visits by devotees on Monday. 

Last year, a record number of more than 38 lakh pilgrims travelled to the revered four shrines of the hill state. 

Last week, Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, while addressing media from his residence had stated that the Central government has given permission to open religious places from June 8 and the yatra will be started in limited, controlled and safe manner.

Representatives of priests from the Kedarnath shrine met the district magistrate of Rudraprayag last week to hold discussions on the matter.

The priests added that the decision to open the shrines for pilgrims should be postponed for a few more weeks considering the rising count of COVID-19 cases in the state.

The priests demanded the state push back the pilgrimage till the spread of the contagion has been contained and the yatra is not deemed a threat to public health.

Earlier, last month, the state government officials had already written to the Centre to grant permission to open religious tourism and other tourism sectors such as national parks, rafting and others.