Expedite formation of Chardham Yatra authority: U'khand CM to officials

Dehradun, Jun 12 (PTI) Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Wednesday directed officials to speed up the formation of an authority to regulate the Chardham Yatra and other pilgrimages in the state.

In a meeting here, the chief minister stressed the importance of the Chardham Yatra Management Authority amid the rising number of devotees and tourists coming to the state.

The chief minister also asserted that the role of the authority will not be limited to the Chardhams only and it will manage all other pilgrimages in the state. He said this year, the number of pilgrims visiting Gangotri and Yamunotri Dhams has doubled from last year.

This year, the Chardham Yatra started on May 10 and so far more than 21 lakh pilgrims have reached the four Dhams. According to the data received till Wednesday evening, 8,22,019 devotees have visited Kedarnath, 5,42,310 Badrinath, 3,82,122 Yamunotri and 3,81,256 Gangotri.

Flagging the "increased pressure" on Rishikesh due to the Chardham Yatra, Dhami asked officials to explore the possibility of starting the yatra from Kotdwar in the Pauri district.

At present, the Chardham Yatra is mainly conducted from Rishikesh but due to the arrival of a large number of pilgrims, the problem of traffic jams has increased there, the CM said. PTI DPT RHL