Expert committee roots for acclimatisation of pilgrims
Monday, 06 June 2022 | PNS | Dehradun
The expert committee on health constituted by the state government for the ongoing Char Dham Yatra has suggested that the pilgrims should be asked to get acclimatised before embarking upon the shrines located in the high altitudes. The Chairman of the expert committee, the vice chancellor of HNB Medical education university Dr Hem Chandra said on Sunday that the death rate this year in the Char Dham Yatra this year is higher than previous year. He claimed that the committee found that in 60 per cent cases, the deceased had comorbidities. Addressing media persons here on Sunday, Dr Chandra said that the infection of Covid -19 has affected the lungs and heart of people and when they undertake Yatra they are under increased risk. He said that the committee has suggested that the pilgrims should be asked to acclimatise for 48 hours in different places of the Yatra.
The additional chief secretary Radha Raturi said that this year 1.5 times more pilgrims are visiting the Char Dhams and the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is continuously monitoring the Yatra. The Director General of Police Ashok Kumar said that about 16 lakh pilgrims have so far visited the state for Yatra this year. “The police have rescued 300 pilgrims, united 920 lost pilgrims with their families and sent 54 injured pilgrims to hospitals. In the fake helicopter ticket case the police have so far arrested 20 people and under Operation Maryada taken action on 20,000 people,’’ he said.
The tourism secretary Dilip Jawalkar said that 55,000 pilgrims are visiting the Char Dhams on an average this year. He claimed that the process of the online and offline registration is going on smoothly and in two to three days the backlog would be cleared. He added that 144 permanent toilets with 1,583 seats are available on the Yatra route. Jawalkar said that for the first time a toll free call centre has been made operational in the Yatra. On the question of carrying capacity of Dhams, the secretary informed that in Yamunotri 5,000 -6,000 pilgrims can offer prayers daily while for Gangotri this figure is 8,000-10,000, for Kedarnath 13,000-15,000 and for Badrinath this number is 16,000-18,000 a day.
The health secretary Radhika Jha said this year 66 per cent more doctors and 33 per cent more ambulances have been deployed on Yatra routes. She said that the department has trained its doctors to deal with issues related to cardiology and has given special training to the Yatra doctors on High Altitude Sickness at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh. She added that this year nine screening centres are being operated on the Yatra route where the patients are screened and so far screening of 2.20 lakh pilgrims has been done. Jha added that 72,000 pilgrims have been treated in the OPDs of the hospitals while 5000 patients have been treated in emergency. For the first time heli ambulances are being used and 30 critically ill patients have been transported to AlIMS Rishikesh from these ambulances.
