Uttarakhand HC lifts cap on number of devotees for Chardham Yatra

The Uttarakhand High Court has allowed all devotees to go on Chardham Yatra provided everybody follows the Covid protocols. Earlier, the High Court had fixed the number of devotees going on pilgrimage daily.

Nainital:At a hearing in the Uttarakhand High Court regarding the Chardham Yatra, a bench headed by the Chief Justice gave permission to all devotees to go on the pilgrimage. At the same time, the court has said that all the devotees will abide by the Covid protocols.

It will be the responsibility of the administration to enforce the rules of Covid. The District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) will submit a report in court in this regard. The court has also said in its order that medical facilities in Chardham Yatra should be further enhanced. Choppers should be provided for serious ill patients. For this, a mobile number should be made available on the website. The next hearing of the case is scheduled for November 17.

An affidavit was submitted on behalf of the government sought that the earlier decision given by the court be amended. The Advocate General, speaking for the government, said that the court had earlier fixed the number of devotees in view of Covid for the pilgrimage to Chardham. But at present the cases of Kovid in the state are equal to none. Therefore, the order limiting the number of devotees to visit Chardham should be amended.

The government said that every effort was being made to follow the guidelines given earlier by the court. All facilities have been provided in Chardham Yatra. The government demanded that the cap on the number of devotees visiting Chardham be lifted and the number of devotees should be increased from 3,000 to 4,000 . The government also said 28,000 and 10,000 devotees are visiting Tirupati Balaji and Somnath every day. The state and central governments have opened school malls, colleges, cinemas. Therefore, the number of devotees in Chardham Yatra should also be increased.

The case was heard by a bench comprising Chief Justice RS Chouhan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma. The advocate of the petitioner said that the government has not put information about the facilities being provided for Chardham Yatra in the portal.

Earlier, the court had capped the number of devotees per day to visit Kedarmath Dham at 800, to Badrinath Dham at 1,000, to Gangotri at 600 and to Yamunotri Dham at 400.