Chardham pilgrims have to pay 600 rupees more this time, this is the reason

Pilgrims going on Chardham Yatra now have to pay an additional Rs 600 for the darshan of the Lord. All the unions associated with Uttarakhand Transport Federation have increased the fare of buses by 20 percent. From Rishikesh to Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, Yamunotri, each passenger is now being charged Rs 3,850 instead of Rs 3,250.

As compared to last time, now the fare has been increased by Rs 600 per seat. Even before the hike in fares by the State Transport Authority, the Uttarakhand Transport Federation has increased the fare. The federation argues that the prices of petrochemicals have increased by Rs 30 per liter in the last two years. In such a situation, it is not possible to conduct Chardham Yatra at the old rates. Federation President Sudhir Rai says that at present, the fare of Rs 3,850 per passenger is being charged from the pilgrims going on the yatra. Rai says that the decision to increase the fare has been taken unanimously.

The proposal to increase the fare of Uttarakhand Transport Corporation buses, taxis, cabs, city buses as well as tractors, loaders for Chardham Yatra is pending at the State Transport Authority level. The Fare Fixation Committee constituted on the instructions of the Government, Government and Transport Headquarters has submitted the report to the Authority. The decision to increase the fare is to be taken in the meeting of the authority, but the meeting of the authority could not be held before the journey, while the Uttarakhand Transport Federation had requested to pass a proposal to increase the fare before the start of Chardham Yatra.

Taxi fare hiked by Rs 15,000

After the Uttarakhand Transport Federation, taxi operators have also increased the fare. Now instead of four and a half thousand a day for Innova vehicle, six thousand rupees are being charged. If a family has to travel from Innova to Chardham, then instead of Rs 45 thousand for 10 days, 60 thousand rupees have to be paid. Yogesh Agrawal, President, Doon Travels Honors Association, on the hike in taxi fares, says that since the price of petrochemicals has increased by Rs 30 a liter, it is not possible to travel on the pre-determined fare rates.

 

Number of devotees made a new record on the first day, 23512 devotees visited

On the opening of the doors of Lord Kedarnath, the influx of reverence has added a new chapter in the history of Chardham Yatra. Due to Corona, the silence that had been going on for two years on the occasion of the opening of the doors was broken by the cheers of the devotees. On the first day of the opening of the doors, till 4 pm, more than 23 thousand devotees visited Kedarnath Dham. This is the biggest ever figure for the number of devotees on the first day. In the temple premises, the yatris danced on the beats of the army band tunes, drums and tamasha.

By 4 am, a part of the Kedarnath temple complex was completely filled with devotees. There was a queue of devotees till GMVN on the temple road. The gaiety of the devotees increased as the time for the opening of the doors neared amidst the icy wind blowing from the Himalayas. During this, Kedarpuri kept resonating with the cheers of Bam-Bam Bhole. After the opening of the doors at 6:25 in the morning on the auspicious time, the enthusiasm of the devotees for Baba's darshan was building. By 4 pm, 23,512 devotees had visited Kedarnath in Kedarnath. Earlier in 2019, nine thousand devotees had darshan on the first day.

Vehicles will be able to run on the Yatra route till 10 pm

During the Chardham Yatra, the vehicles of the passengers will be able to ply on the mountain till 10 pm. DGP Ashok Kumar said that this arrangement has been made in view of the increasing number of pilgrims.

Talking to media personnel in Gopeshwar, DGP Ashok Kumar said that the focus of the police will be on crowd management, traffic arrangements and disaster management during the Chardham Yatra. Police personnel will be stationed on both sides of the danger zone on the Badrinath highway. The DGP said that a campaign is being run for effective control of traffic control, women safety, drug ban and cyber crime in the state. On this occasion, Superintendent of Police Shweta Choubey told the DGP about the security arrangements in Badrinath Yatra.

Do duty in the spirit of Atithi Devo Bhava: SP

SP Chamoli Shweta Choubey briefed the in-charges of the police stations and outposts on the Yatra route through video conferencing. The SP said that all the police personnel should do duty in the spirit of Atithi Devo Bhava. The passengers should be treated cordially. The SP asked all the police stations and outposts about their preparations and problems. Along with this, necessary guidelines were given to make the journey smooth and orderly.