U’khand to take help from NDRF, ITBP to manage crowds in Char Dham if needed
Friday, 24 MAY 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Uttarakhand government can take help of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) for managing crowds in the Char Dham Yatra when needed. An instruction regarding this was given by Union Home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla in a meeting with Uttarakhand chief secretary Radha Raturi on Thursday. In the virtual meeting, Raturi gave the updated information about Char Dham Yatra to Bhalla.
In the meeting, the Union Home secretary said that a committee for devising the strategy of Yatra management should be constituted. He laid special emphasis on strict monitoring of Yatra management at the ground level. Raturi said that the Char Dham Yatra is being conducted safely and smoothly in the State. She said that the State government has sent letters to the chief secretaries of all the States, especially the five states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra, from where maximum pilgrims come to the Char Dham. Requests have been made to these States that pilgrims should come for the Char Dham Yatra only after registration and on the mentioned dates only.
She informed that to maintain order, offline registrations have been halted till May 31. Giving information about the travel management system, the CS informed that a 24-hour call centre operated by Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board is operational for Yatra registration. Registered devotees are being checked at Badkot (Yamunotri), Heena (Gangotri), Sonprayag (Kedarnath) and Pandukeshwar (Badrinath). Arrangements have been made for Darshan in the Dhams by stamping the tokens of the devotees standing in the queue in the temple premises.
The CS further informed that till May 22, a total of 31,18,926 pilgrims had registered for the Yatra. Out of them 4,86,285 devotees have registered for Yamunotri, 5,54,656 for Gangotri, 10,37,700 for Kedarnath, 9,55,858 for Badrinath and 84,427 for Hemkund Sahib. The States from where more devotees are coming for the Yatra are Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, Bihar, Haryana, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh.
The chief secretary informed that this year, 1,38,537 devotees visited Yamunotri in the first ten days of the Yatra season which is 127 percent more than in the last two years. Similarly 156 and 89 per cent more devotees have visited Kedarnath and Gongotri this year respectively. She said that the Transport department has issued 23,063 green cards for the Yatra.
Raturi said that the State Police have opened 56 tourism police support centres on the Yatra route. On the Kedarnath Yatra route, 20 parking spaces with a capacity of 1,495 vehicles have been created. The CS informed that 50 screening kiosks have been installed at 12 locations by the Health department. Swasthya Mitras, who are first medical responders, have also been deployed on the Yatra route. Further, 156 ambulances, 22 specialist doctors, 179 medical officers and 299 paramedical staff have also been deployed on the Yatra route.
She said that the traffic situation is being closely monitored through CCTV cameras and drones. Attention is being paid to strict adherence to registration and token system. Special focus is being laid on helping the elderly, disabled, sick and children, she said.
The Union Home secretary assured every possible help and cooperation to the State government for successful conduct of the Char Dham Yatra in Uttarakhand.
The officiating director general of police Abhinav Kumar, secretaries Shailesh Bagauli, Sachin Kurve, Dilip Jawalkar and AS Hyanki were also present in the meeting.
