The Chardham yatra comprising pilgrimage to Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri in the Garhwal Himalayas may have kicked off with the reopening of their portals early this month. But the pilgrimage, which is considered to be the backbone of the hill economy, has suffered due to bad road conditions and equine influenza spreading among mules and horses at Rudraprayag district.
A committee headed by Garhwal commissioner Uma Kant Panwar has prepared a new report regarding the prevailing conditions in the Chardham tourist circuit and submitted to the government for immediate action.
Pilgrimage to Kedarnath, perched at 3,581-metre height in Rudraprayag, has suffered badly due to equine influenza inflicting horses and mules, who ferry hundreds of pilgrims to the shrine. Nearly 40 horses have so far died due to the disease. The district authorities have already imposed a blanket ban on the pilgrimage to Kedarnath on the trek route due to which the local business has suffered badly.
Portals of Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines, situated at a height of 3,200 metre and 4,421 metre respectively in Uttarkashi district, were also thrown open early this month. But since then, the roads leading to these two shrines have developed cracks and damages due to which the pilgrimage has virtually come to a halt. The report said the road conditions for Badrinath, which is located in Chamoli district at a height of 3133 metre, are also bad.
The Chardham yatra attracts nearly 1.7 million pilgrims every year from home and abroad.
Meanwhile, the government has assured that it would take steps for the smooth conduct of yatra and directed all the departments to work in tandem during the period. Chief minister BC Khanduri has asked the transport department to ensure the strict implementation of laws during the yatra season so that road accidents could be avoided. He also directed the health department to deploy mobile vans in the areas prone to accidents to provide timely medical help to pilgrims in case of any eventuality.
“We are already on the job to make the yatra a pleasant journey,” said a top official of the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN), a state government enterprise, and the nodal agency for the yatra.
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In the holy town of Rishikesh from where the yatra begins, the state authorities have made arrangement for running nearly 4,000 buses for all the four pilgrim centres of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri.
The pilgrimage to Hemkund, a Sikh shrine, would also begin next month.
For the pilgrimage to Kedarnath, pilgrims are mainly dependent on Prabhatam and Pawan Hans airlines, which are operating helicopter services from Fata area in Rudraprayag to ferry pilgrims to Kedarnath and back.
Helicopter services to Badrinath temple and Hemkund Sahib are also expected to be available from Dehra Dun and Govindghat this season.
The Kailash-Mansarovar yatra through Lipu-Lekh pass in Pithoragarh district of Kumaon hills is also starting from June in which Indian pilgrims would visit Tibet to undertake a parikrama of Kailash mountain and holy dip of Mansarovar lake. But, the yatra route to Mansarovar is badly damaged in Pithoragarh due to heavy landslides last year.