By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
The Chardham yatra in Uttarakhand began on Wednesday (April 30) on the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya with the opening of the Gangotri and Yamunotri temples in the Garhwal hills amid tight security arrangements.
The doors of two other shrines, Kedarnath and Badrinath, will open on May 2 and May 4 respectively.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami flew to Gangotri and Yamunotri in Uttarkashi district this morning to offer prayers at the temple. He also enthusiastically greeted pilgrims gathered at the two temples.
Tight security arrangements have been made for the Chardham yatra in view of the Pahalgam terror attack, top police officials said.
Nearly 6,000 police personnel, 17 companies of Provincial Armed Constabulary and 10 companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed on the yatra routes for the security of pilgrims, Seth said. Besides, SDRF personnel has also been deployed in the accident prone areas, they said.
Inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative to reduce obesity, the Uttarakhand government has launched “Aaj Se Thoda Kam” (from today, little less) campaign with an aim to provide healthy and nutritious food to the pilgrims during the Chardham Yatra.
The State Health Secretary Dr R Rajesh Kumar said the main objective of the new initiative is to control the amount of excess salt, sugar and fat in food so that diseases like heart attacks, diabetes and high blood pressure can be reduced.
He said under the initiative, restaurants and eateries will be encouraged to prepare healthy dishes with the help of chefs and food experts and take care of nutritional balance. Under this campaign, awareness is being raised through flex banners, posters and digital mediums.
A record 22 lakh pilgrims have already registered themselves with the state government expecting more than 50 lakh pilgrims this year. Last year, nearly 48 lakh pilgrims had visited the Chardham shrines.