The Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday lifted the ban on Chardham Yatra. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the court ordered a mandatory coronavirus negative report and full vaccination certificate for devotees visiting Kedarnath Dham, Badrinath Dham, Gangotri and Yamunotri Dham.
While allowing pilgrims to visit the Chardham, the high court said only 800 devotees will be allowed at Kedarnath temple, 1200 at Badrinath temple, 600 at Gangotri and 400 devotees at Yamunotri Dham in a day.
Earlier, the High Court had refused to grant permission to allow Chardham yatra while pointing at the potential threat of the third wave of COVID-19 predicted by the scientific community.
The court passed the order after the Uttarakhand government submitted before the bench that the COVID-19 situation has improved and the yatra be allowed as thousands of people residing enroute Char Dham Yatra depend on the pilgrims.
In July, the Uttarakhand government had moved the Supreme Court challenging the state High Court’s order staying its decision to allow local pilgrims to participate in the Char Dham Yatra on July 1.
“Due to harsh climate and terrain, the livelihood of people residing in the near villages enroute Char Dham Yatra are largely dependent on the earnings made through tourism and religious rituals during the yatra. Therefore, the rest of the 6 months, the villagers survive through cold, without much of an earning,” the state government had contended.
“It is in the interest of the public to stay the operation of cabinet decision dated June 25 and to direct the government not to permit pilgrims to reach Char Dham temples,” the high court had said while striking the government’s decision to allow the pilgrimage.
According to the latest official data available, Uttarakhand currently has 296 active COVID cases while 7389 people have succumbed due to the deadly contagious virus since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.
