Amid upsurge in crowd; daily cap on Char Dham pilgrims increased

Dehradun, May 11 (PTI) With a rush of pilgrims for the Char Dham Yatra, the daily limit imposed on the number of people visiting each of the shrines -- Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri -- in Uttarakhand has been increased by 1,000 for the first 45 days of the yatra season.

An earlier government order in this regard had been partially modified, increasing the limit to 16,000 for Badrinath, 13,000 for Kedarnath, 80,000 for Gangotri and 5,000 for Yamunotri, officials said on Wednesday.

The daily limit for the Himalayan shrines, according to the previous order, was 15,000 for Badrinath, 12,000 for Kedarnath, 7,000 for Gangotri and 4,000 for Yamunotri.

The decision has been taken on the directions of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami for the convenience of pilgrims whose number this year is unusually high with Covid-induced restrictions no longer in force, the officials said.

The number of pilgrims visiting the revered temples had crossed the daily limit of 38,000 imposed by the earlier order.