DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand state government to start Char Dham Yatra from July 1, however, only pilgrims from the state would be allowed to visit the shrines, officials said.
Ravinath Raman, chief executive of Char Dham Devsthanam Board said, "The yatra will start on July 1 with all precautions. We are committed to provide safety to all pilgrims."
Those who want to visit any of the four shrines will have to register themselves and then local administration will grant them permission.
No one from containment zones or out of the state will be allowed to visit the shrines located in Rudraprayag (Kedarnath), Uttarkashi (Gangotri, Yamunotri) and Chamoli (Badrinath) district.
The number of pilgrims was fixed to 800 for Kedarnath, 1200 for Badrinath, 600 for Gangotri and 400 for Yamunotri shrine.
The state government had banned any pilgrims except home districts of the revered shrines and capped the number of devotees to contain the contagion.
Priest's body from Char Dham had protested against state government's move to allow even local pilgrims till June 30 citing threat of spreading the contagion further.
Last year, a record number of more than 38 lakh pilgrims travelled to the four revered shrines of the hill state.
Last month, the state government officials had already written to the center to grant permission to open religious tourism and other tourism sectors such as national parks, rafting and others.