Dehradun: Since the commencement of the Chardham Yatra on May 10, a total of 12,82,911 pilgrims have made their way to the shrines while a death toll of 67 has been recorded till now.
In view of the recent deaths, most of which were due to cardiac-related issues, the state health department has made declaration of medical history mandatory for the pilgrims. Along with this, the government is also coming up with a Chardham health App through which, pilgrims can assess all the health-related information.
According to the information received from the state emergency operations centre, 67 devotees have died till May 28. Of which, the highest number of deaths were in Kedarnath Dham (33) followed by Badrinath Dham (16), Yamunotri Dham (13) and Gangotri Dham (5). Most of the pilgrims who died are above 50 years.
Health secretary R Rajesh Kumar said it is mandatory for all pilgrims above 50 years to undergo health screening. Their previous medical history will also be taken into account.
If a pilgrim registers on the tourism department's website for Chardham Yatra, then he will receive a notification to fill-up his medical history, but it has not been made mandatory. In such a situation, the Health Department has decided that declaration of the medical history of all pilgrims is compulsory.
This apart, the health department is also developing a Chardham health App for the convenience of the pilgrims. The health secretary said that very few devotees have died at the health centres and most deaths were related to previous medical history.
A written undertaking is taken from pilgrims who are not fit for the journey but are eager to continue. These pilgrims are also informed about the risks related to the journey, he said.
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