The Aryavarth Express
Agency (Uttarakhand): On Thursday, Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Radha Raturi reiterated her appeal to Chardham pilgrims to register for the pilgrimage to the Himalayan shrines of Kedarnath, Yamunotri, Badrinath, and Gangotri and adhere strictly to their allotted dates. This measure is aimed at avoiding inconvenience due to the unprecedented rush of devotees since the portals of the shrines opened earlier this month.
Chief Secretary Raturi provided an update on the yatra to Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla during a virtual meeting. Bhalla instructed Raturi to submit daily reports on the number of pilgrims at the shrines, yatra routes, and holding places to the Union home ministry. He also suggested enlisting the National Disaster Response Force and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police for crowd management if necessary.
Bhalla emphasized the importance of strict ground-level monitoring and proposed forming a committee to strategize future Chardham Yatra management. Raturi assured Bhalla that the pilgrimage is proceeding smoothly and safely.
To ensure orderly conduct, offline registration for the Chardham Yatra has been suspended until May 31. The Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board operates a 24-hour call center to manage registrations. Pilgrims are being checked at various points, including Barkot for Yamunotri, Heena for Gangotri, Sonprayag for Kedarnath, and Pandukeshwar for Badrinath. Tokens are issued to registered devotees at key locations to manage temple visits.
The state has requested other states, particularly Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra—where most Chardham pilgrims originate—to ensure their residents register before undertaking the pilgrimage and adhere to the allotted dates.
As of May 22, a total of 31,18,926 registrations were recorded, with 4,86,285 devotees for Yamunotri, 5,54,656 for Gangotri, 10,37,700 for Kedarnath, 9,55,858 for Badrinath, and 84,427 for Hemkund Sahib. The top states contributing the highest number of pilgrims are Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, Bihar, Haryana, West Bengal, and Chhattisgarh.
The first ten days of this year’s yatra saw a significant increase in pilgrims compared to the last two years: 1,38,537 devotees visited Yamunotri (127% increase), 1,28,777 visited Gangotri (89% increase), 3,19,193 visited Kedarnath (156% increase), and 1,39,656 visited Badrinath (27% increase).
Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) chairman Ajendra Ajay acknowledged initial challenges due to exceeding temple capacity limits but credited the state government for quickly smoothing out the travel system. Despite the surge in devotees, the yatra continues efficiently under the guidance of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.