Sunday, 03 October 2021 | PNS | Joshimath
A large number of locals including traditional rights holders and Panda-Purohits staged a demonstration in Badrinath demanding discontinuation of the e-pass system for the Char Dham Yatra.
The protesters said that following court orders, the Char Dham Yatra was started on September 18. As per the SOPs issued by the State government, a limited number of people- 1,000 per day, are being allowed to visit Badrinath after online registration and securing e-pass. Those who have not registered online and lack the e-pass are being made to return from Pandukeshwar. As part of the protest under the banner of Badrish Sangharsh Samiti (BSS), the commercial establishments in Badrinath remained closed on Saturday.
This caused major inconvenience to pilgrims arriving here on the day. BSS head Rajesh Mehta said that due to lack of proper arrangements by the government, the local businesses are suffering losses while pilgrims from across the nation are facing inconvenience. He demanded that the e-pass system be discontinued.
