Chardham Yatra 2021: The Uttarakhand High Court lifted the ban on Chardham Yatra on September 16, 2021. The Court has ordered a mandatory COVID-19 negative report and full vaccination certificate for devotees visiting Kedarnath Dham, Yamunotri Dham, Badrinath Dham, and Gangotri. Previously, the High Court had denied permission to allow Chardham Yatra amid the possible threat of the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic.
How many number of devotees allowed to visit Chardham Yatra?
The High Court on lifting the ban on the Chardham Yatra stated that there will be a cap on the number of devotees allowed to visit Chardham.
The number of devotees allowed to visit Chardham in a day is only 1,000 devotees to visit Badrinath, 800 devotees to visit Kedarnath, 600 devotees to visit Gangotri, and 400 devotees to visit Yamunotri.
Chardham Yatra 2021: Guidelines
Only 3 people will be allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum (garbhagriha) of the temples at a time. The sanctum sanctorum is the place in the temple where the murti of the deity is placed.
The devotees will not be allowed to take bath in any kunds (reservoir).
It is mandatory to carry a COVID-19 negative report and full vaccination certificate for devotees visiting Kedarnath Dham, Yamunotri Dham, Badrinath Dham, and Gangotri.
Uttarakhand HC lifts ban on Chardham Yatra: Background
The State government had allowed the Chardham Yatra to begin on July 1, 2021, however, the state High Court stayed the decision on June 28. The Uttarakhand government then moved the Supreme Court while challenging the staying order by the state’s High Court on allowing local pilgrims to participate in the Chardham Yatra. The State government in its statement submitted to the SC stated that the COVID-19 situation has improved and the yatra be allowed.
The State government further added that due to the terrain and harsh climate in the region, the people residing in the nearby village en route Chardham Yatra heavily rely on the earnings made through tourism and religious rituals during the yatra. The earnings made during the yatra period held the villagers survive through the cold without much earnings for the remaining six months.
Basis the plea submitted before the bench, the Court passed the order to allow the yatra as the livelihood of thousands of people depended on the pilgrims.
COVID-19 in Uttarakhand
There are currently 296 active COVID-19 cases in Uttarakhand. A total of 3,43,310 COVID cases in Uttarakhand so far of which 7,389 people were reported dead due to COVID-19 in Uttarakhand since the start of coronavirus infection in 2020.
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