Tuesday, 07 MAY 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Transport department will deploy 20 enforcement squads on Char Dham routes to ensure safe journeys for tourists and pilgrims in mountainous areas. Each squad will have 16 to 24 officials of the department who will work in two to three shifts on each route as per the requirement, the nodal officer of Char Dham Yatra and the regional transport officer (Administration) Sunil Sharma said. These 20 squads will include 12 regular enforcement teams, four mobile teams and four interceptors teams. He informed that these squads will be posted in hi-tech checkposts set up by the department at five locations on Char Dham routes where their deployment seemed necessary as per the requirement of the pilgrims. These will be set up in Bhadrakali on the Rishikesh-Gangotri route, Kuthal Gate on the Dehradun-Mussoorie-Yamunotri road, Brahmapuri orTapovan on the Rishikesh-Badrinath road and Badwala on Dehradun-Yamunotri road. The RTO also informed that the passengers going to Sonprayag- Rudraprayag- Kedarnath Dham will have to travel a distance of five kilometres between Sonprayag and Gaurikund for transportation. The transport service will be available through 200 maxi cabs on the narrow route as per the token system. The official working hours of these hi-tech checkposts will be 4 AM to 10 PM where the department has made several arrangements to ensure deployed officials and tourists can get facilities like free wifi, clean drinking water and toilets. The drivers and passengers can also rest there for a short time before resuming their long journey on Char Dham routes, Sharma said. He said that the service of issuing trip cards for pilgrims will also be available at these checkposts. He also informed that the department has issued over 1,500 green cards to the vehicle operators which is mandatory for them to operate on Char Dham routes. The fee to apply for green cards for small and medium vehicles is Rs 400 and Rs 650 for heavy vehicles. Sharma also informed that all the work associated with the installation and operation of 28 unmanned electric vehicle charging stations on the Char Dham routes will also be completed within a week.
