Char Dham Yatra: Daily pilgrim number increased; e-passes mandatory

The Uttarakhand state government has issued fresh guidelines for Char Dham Yatra, along with increasing the daily number of pilgrims to be allowed in the yatra. Initially, only a handful of pilgrims were allowed to visit the Char Dham daily, i.e., Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri, and Gangotri, but the board is now set to raise its daily cap on the pilgrim numbers. The number of pilgrims to be allowed to visit these shrines per day will be 3000.

Referring to this, Chief Executive Officer of Char Dham Devasthanam Board (UCDDMB) Ravinath Raman said that the limit of daily pilgrims has been increased for all the four shrines. The board added that it will be mandatory for everyone to register and obtain e-passes from the UCDDMB. The Chief Executive Officer said that the e-passes will, however, be issued on the basis of availability of accommodation, food, and other arrangements, including social distancing, as assessed by respective district magistrates. This step has been taken to facilitate the increased footfall of pilgrims after Unlock-5.
Reportedly, the limit of daily visitors to Badrinath and Kedarnath has been taken up to 3000 per day. Apart from this, 900 pilgrims will be allowed per day at Gangotri, whereas 700 will be allowed in Yamunotri per day.
Earlier, the limited number of pilgrims were allowed to visit the pilgrims per day; while 800 was permitted in Kedarnath, 1200 in Badrinath, 400 in Yamunotri, and 600 in Gangotri.
As of now, pilgrims are also exempted from producing a COVID-19 negative report to visit the Char Dham shrines. Also, as per the new guidelines regarding the visit to Char Dham Yatra, pilgrims will be required to undergo thermal scanning, and if their temperatures are not within normal limits, they will have to take COVID-19 tests as well as bear the cost of the same.

Further, as per the guidelines, if anyone develops symptoms that are similar to COVID-19, they should avoid visiting the shrine. Also, as per the reports, pilgrims visiting the shrines via heli services, will not have to produce an e-pass too.