Govt takes tough measures to streamline Chardham yatra
PrashantNews
From Sabarimala in Kerala to Vaishno Devi in Jammu and Kashmir, the daily footfall in top religious shrines is surging in India.
And the Chardham yatra in Uttarakhand is also witnessing heavy rush these days breaking all previous records.
According to Chief Secretary Radha Raturi, the number of pilgrims coming to the Chardham has doubled as compared to last year. Due to the heavy rush, the state administration is facing an uphill task for the smooth conduct of the yatra prompting the authorities to take tough measures. Now onward, the pilgrims without registration would not be allowed to visit these Himalayan shrines, Raturi said. The pilgrims cannot use mobile phones within 200 meters of the temple premises. However, she said the pilgrims can carry mobile phones .
Till May 15 evening, altogether 27.38 lakh cumulative registration for the Chardham yatra have already been recorded. Till Wednesday, approximately 3.34 lakh pilgrims have already offered prayers at the four Chardham shrines — Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri nestling in the Garhwal Himalayas.
According to official figures, 1.55 lakh pilgrims have so far offered prayers at Kedarnath shrine in Rudraprayag district. The Kedarnath shrine was reopened on May 10 after a gap of six months. This means nearly 25-26,000 pilgrims are visiting Kedarnath daily. And the figure is astoundingly increasing day by day.
Travel agents say people generally want to avoid visiting Chardham shrines during the monsoon season when the hills are more prone to natural disasters like landslides and cloudburst.
But the Chardham yatra is not for pilgrimage only. A large number of youths are also visiting the shrines to enjoy the pristine beauty of the Garhwal hills. In a recent video which went viral, a Kedarnath priest is seen admonishing some young people, who are dancing on the high decibel drum beats in front of the temple. “This is not a dancing floor where you can make your reels for the social media,” the priest was seen telling the youngsters angrily.
As the daily footfall of pilgrims is surging in all the Chardham shrines, some pilgrims have also returned home after finding it difficult to reach these Himalayan temples. “For 2-3 days the roads and treks to Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri remained choked with pilgrims,” said a top government official.
In a significant initiative, DGP Abhinav Kumar has called for finding a scientific estimate of the carrying capacity of these shrines. Supporting this, Anoop Nautiyal, a well-known social activist, said it very imperative to understand the actual carrying capacity of the Chardham areas in a scientific manner in order to streamline the yatra.
Garhwal Commissioner Vinay Shanker Pandey said the pilgrims are not following their registration dates and are coming early for the yatra due to which the overcrowding is taking place.
But two decades ago, the Chardham used to offer tranquil haven of peace and serenity, away from the bustle of the city.
When this journalist visited Kedarnath shrine in the middle of the general elections in 2004, there were very few pilgrims who had gathered inside the sanctum sanctorum for the morning prayers. In the next nine years, the pilgrim footfall remained static at around 4-5 lakh per year till the deluge swamped Kedarnath in 2013 bringing widespread destruction and halting the yatra completely.
After the Uttarakhand government and the centre launched reconstruction works, the pilgrimage once again started gaining momentum. And after the 2019 elections when Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to Kedarnath to hold prayers and meditation in a cave, the Chardham yatra got a big flip. But after the Covid, the Chardham pilgrimage started moving at breakneck pace.
Experts are also puzzled to find reasons as to why everybody seems so desperate to undertake the Chardham yatra.
“I want to go to Kedarnath. But due to heavy rush, I have now planned to visit the shrine in September-October,” said Virok Talwar, a businessman from Jammu. Talwar (57) is a regular visitor to Haridwar and other religious places in India. “This is my desire to remain close to peaceful environment and also God,” said Talwar.
A majority of pilgrims visiting the Chardham shrines say they want to visit the hill pilgrimage because of the intense heat in their regions. “We are facing high temperatures at Noida. We decided to visit Kedarnath as early as possible,” said Rakesh Sharma, a government employee. “Chardham is good option as the place is not far away from Delhi,” said Sushmita Malik, who lives in New Delhi.
Popularity of Chardham yatra is increasing exponentially after Mr Modi ‘s visit to Kedarnath. All four Dhams are pious centers for Hindus from centuries. Uttrakhand government should provide all the security and facilities to visitors. These yatras have become good source of revenue as well as providing jobs to millions in Uttrakhand. Not only these four Dhams but entire Uttrakhand is a good destination for site seeing, tracking, mountaineering and destination marriages.
Now Uttrakhand is also preferred location for movies shooting because of concessions given by Uttrakhand government.