Chardham Yatra: U'khand Govt Issues SOPs. Mandatory For Vaxxed Devotees Of These States To Show Negative Covid Report

The Uttarakhand government has issued a list of Standard Operating Procedure or SOPs for devotees who plan to take the pilgrimage after the Nanital High Court lifted the ban on the Chardham Yatra.

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New Delhi: Earlier this week, the Uttarakhand government had decided to lift the ban on the Chardham Yatra. The Nainital High Court ordered devotees to follow strict COVID-19 protocols while setting a limit on the number of visitors allowed.

The High Court's ruling came on the affidavit filed by the Uttarakhand government on September 8, 2021, to allow the yatra.

The Uttarakhand government has issued a list of Standard Operating Procedure or SOPs for devotees who plan to take the pilgrimage. Here are some of the SOPs:

• The Nainital allowed only fully vaccinated people with a mandatory COVID-19 negative report for the annual pilgrimage.
• Devotees from Kerala, Maharashtra & Andhra Pradesh it is mandatory to bring a negative COVID report not older than 72 hours before the date of travel, despite having received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
• For the rest, it is mandatory to have either both the doses of the Covid-19 vaccine or the negative Covid-19 report less than 72 hours.
• Registration and e-pass will be mandatory for 'darshan' in the four dhams.
• Holy dip in the 'kunds' at the dhams is prohibited.  For compliance with the arrangements related to the journey, the checkpoints set up on the travel routes will be checked.
• About 1000 devotees will be allowed to visit Badrinath every day. 800 can visit Kedarnath, 600 Gangotri and 400 Yamnotri.

The High Court had on June 28  put a stay on the yatra until further orders. It considered various factors like lack of health services in Chardham Yatra districts, lack of adequate preparations to control COVID-19 infection, shortage of doctors, and the report of the district administration to reach the decision.

The Char Dham Yatra encompasses the four sacred pilgrimages of Uttarakhand - Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath. All four sites are located in the Garhwal region of the state.

Meanwhile, the Chief Secretary Dr SS Sandhu has also reviewed the preparations for Chardham Yatra and has given necessary instructions by holding a meeting with the officials of various departments related to travel including Tourism and Devasthanam Management Board.

Sandhu also instructed the District Magistrates of Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Uttarkashi and Pauri to make arrangements for road safety, cleanliness, crowd management, traffic arrangements, testing and compliance with the rules of Covid-19 on the Chardham Yatra route.

Aside from this, the Dehradun District Magistrate has ordered all district-level officials to keep their phone switched on, unless in case of personal emergency. If the district administration officials are still found to have their mobile phones switched off then action will be taken against them under various sections of the Disaster Management Act.

This order comes in view of the incessant rainfall which has caused waterlogging, landslides and accidents in several parts of the state damaging roads and other infrastructure.