New Delhi: The Uttarakhand government has announced to increase the number of pilgrims by 1,000 each to Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. Confirming the same, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the government has decided to increase the number of pilgrims at Chardham by 1,000, ANI reported. With this move, 16,000 devotees can now visit Badrinath and 13,000 can have ‘darshan’ of the deity at Kedarnath Dham in a day. Currently, 8,000 and 5,000 pilgrims can visit Gangotri and Yamunotri Dham in a day respectively.
Only 15,000 devotees were allowed daily at Badrinath, 16,000 at Kedarnath, 7,000 at Gangotri Dham and 5,000 at Yamunotri Dham when the pilgrimage began earlier on May 3.
The doors of the Gangotri-Yamunotri Dham were opened on May 3, whereas the portals of Kedarnath and Badrinath were opened on May 6 and May 8 respectively.
Dhami said there is always a huge throng of devotees on the first day of the yatra, adding long queues are thus seen for the ‘darshan’ at Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri.
“The crowd after opening of the portals has now been regulated to some extent and the yatra is being driven in a finer way. Prior registration for pilgrimage is being made mandatory,” he added.
Over two lakh pilgrims have this year visited the Chardham, according to Uttarakhand Tourism Development Council. 77,656 pilgrims visited Kedarnath alone, whereas 49,215 thronged Gangotri Dham, 46,405 visited the Yamunotri Dham and 30,773 devotees visited the Badrinath Dham.
The registrations for the yatra have also observed a new record this year as over 10 lakh pilgrims registered.
“To streamline the ‘darshan’, the capacity of 1,000 passengers has been increased to each dham,” Dhami said.
The Uttarakhand government has deployed security personnel along with a team of health officials on the pilgrim route.