Police maintaining traffic with 10K vehicles plying daily on Yatra circuit
Sunday, 19 MAY 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
An estimated five lakh people have visited the Char Dham temples since Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri reopened on May 10 and Badrinath reopened on May 12. According to the State police, the number of people visiting Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri is higher than the capacity. About 10,000 vehicles are plying daily on the Yatra circuit at present. The police further informed that there is no bypass route for the traffic to Yamunotri. When the traffic load is heavy, the vehicles are being halted temporarily at locations including Damta, Badkot, Syanachatti, Dobata, Paligad and Brahmkhal before being allowed to proceed after a fixed duration. Similarly, due to heavy traffic on the Gangotri route, the vehicles are being halted temporarily before being allowed to proceed further. The traffic returning from Gangotri has been diverted to Tekhla bridge from where the traffic towards Kedarnath is being directed to the Lambgaon motor road and the traffic towards Rishikesh is being sent to the Badethi-Manera bypass.
Due to heavy traffic load in the Rudraprayag district’s Sonprayag, Rampur, Sitapur and Fata, the vehicles are being halted temporarily at the Dagadiya barrier, Fata, Saresi, Kakdagad, Tilwada and Jawadi bypass. The vehicles are being sent towards Sonprayag and Rudraprayag as soon as the traffic normalises, the police informed. A separate traffic plan has been implemented in Rishikesh to prevent disruption of traffic on the weekend. Traffic is being diverted through four routes in Rishikesh where the Yatra route has been diverted from Nepali Farm towards Natraj Chowk via Bhaniawala. The police have also decided that in case of heavy traffic load in Dehradun-Mussoorie on the weekend, the traffic towards Mussoorie will be sent back from Kuthal Gate.
The Uttarakhand Police has advised the devotees that considering the excessive number of visitors in Yamunotri and Gangotri at present, those planning to visit these shrines should plan their pilgrimage accordingly. As pilgrims are being allowed to visit the Char Dham only after registration, all are requested to get registered and visit the shrines on the dates stated in their registration. The movement of passenger vehicles is completely prohibited from 10 PM to 4 AM. The pilgrims are also requested to keep basic essentials for consumption and medicines as they may be halted at designated places temporarily due to the excessive crowd on the Yatra routes.
