DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday allowed Chardham Yatra, with a cap on number of devotees allowed daily. A total of 800 pilgrims will be allowed at Kedarnath, 1,200 at Badrinath, 600 at Gangotri and 400 devotees at Yamunotri in a day, a division bench comprising Chief Justice RS Chauhan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma ruled.
Shiv Bhatt, one of the counsels in the case, said, “The court decided to lift the stay imposed on the yatra and directed the government to ensure proper facilities for the pilgrims including sanitation, medical and Covid safety measures.”
The HC had on June 28 stayed the state cabinet’s decision to start the yatra from July 1 in view of the Covid situation. While over 38 lakh pilgrims visited the four shrines in 2019, the number came down to 4.2 lakh in 2020 because of Covid-19 and consequent restrictions.
Ravinath Raman, commissioner of Garhwal division and chief executive officer of the Char Dham Devsthanam Board which conducts the yatra, said, “Once we get a copy of the order, we will proceed ahead according to the court’s directions.” The yatra provides livelihood to more than 10,000 people in the state directly or indirectly, forming an economic ecosystem around the shrines.