 "U'khand to issue Chardham Yatra guidelines for pilgrims from 3 districts")
As Uttarakhand has allowed state residents to undertake the Char Dham Yatra from July 1 amid COVID-19, the state government will be issuing guidelines for the pilgrimage for people from three districts.
Government spokesperson Subodh Uniyal informed these three districts are Chamoli, Uttarkashi, and Rudraprayag.
Uniyal also mentioned that the state government will take all necessary steps to follow COVID-19 protocols, and will ensure that priests are vaccinated against COVID-19.
The four pilgrimage sites in Uttarakhand are Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Gangotri.
This comes as the State Cabinet decided to partially open the Chardham yatra for locals in limited numbers from July 1. Initially, the yatra will be opened for residents of Chamoli, Uttarkashi and Rudraprayag districts with a cap on the number of pilgrims to visit the temples daily.
Bringing a negative RT-PCR/Rapid Antigen test report will be mandatory for every pilgrim and the standard operating procedure (SOPs) to be followed by pilgrims while visiting the temples will be issued separately, Uniyal said
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On being asked about whether the Chardham yatra will open for pilgrims from across the state, he said it will depend on the overall COVID situation.
"We have taken into account the predictions about the third wave and the Delta mutant of the pandemic before we go ahead with the decision to open the yatra for the whole of the state," the official added.
As per the data of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Uttarakhand has 2,627 active cases.