Pauri (Uttarakhand): Pilgrims who would like to undertake the Chardham Yatra this year will have to register for all four Dhams, the Garhwal Commissioner said on Wednesday. Earlier, pilgrims had to register online for traveling to Kedarnath and Badrinath. However, this year, registrations have been made mandatory for visiting Gangotri and Yamunotri Dham as well.
Preparations are in full swing for the upcoming Chardham Yatra. The government and administration have started all arrangements for the Yatra. Registrations have been made mandatory for all four pilgrimage sites to keep track of the number of devotees visiting the holy places.
The Chardham Yatra will kick off on April 22. In this regard, Sushil Kumar, the Garhwal Commissioner has issued necessary guidelines to all the District Magistrates for chalking out all the necessary arrangements en-routes. Therefore, the preparations are being done on a war footing in all the districts of the Garhwal division, the commissioner said. He further added that the registrations, as usual, are mandatory for all passengers. However, the process of registration has been changed a little to include registrations for all four Dhams.
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The routes for pedestrians which are leading to the major shrines are being improved. Arrangements are being made to provide health facilities and drinking water arrangements on these routes. Special arrangements are also being made to ensure cleanliness on the yatra routes. In this regard, instructions have been issued to Nagar Panchayats, Municipalities, and District Panchayats to ensure hygiene in all four dams.
The online registrations show that a record number of pilgrims have registered for the Yatra this year. About two and a half lakh devotees have registered for the Yatra within the first 20 days of the opening of registrations. This is the maximum number of registrations for Badrinath and Kedarnath Dham so far.
