Char Dham yatra pilgrim influx sees drop of nearly 8 lakh devotees

Last year, the Char Dham yatra, which concluded on November 18, broke all previous records with pilgrim influx crossing the 5.6 million-mark

Char Dham yatra pilgrim influx witnessed a drop of nearly 8 lakh with 4.8 million pilgrims visiting Char Dham shrines since the yatra began on May 10, compared to last year when a record 5.6 million pilgrims visited the revered Himalayan shrines.

Out of 48,11,279 pilgrims who visited Char Dham shrines, 14,35,341 visited Badrinath. (HT sourced photo)

Out of 48,11,279 pilgrims who visited Char Dham shrines, 14,35,341 visited Badrinath, as many as 1,83,722 visited Hemkund Sahib, 16,52,076 visited Kedarnath, around 8,15,273 visited Gangotri Dham and 7,14,755 visited Yamunotri Dham this year.

Last year, the Char Dham yatra, which concluded on November 18, broke all previous records with pilgrim influx crossing the 5.6 million-mark, according to tourism department officials.

Shedding light on the possible causes for the decline in numbers, Anoop Nautiyal, Dehradun based social activist said that the shortened available days for the yatra in comparison to last year is one of the reasons.

“The less number of days available for Char Dham Yatra this year in comparison to last year is one of the main reason for the shortfall this year was the frequent landslides during monsoon period specially the disaster of 31 July where the whole Kedarnath route was blocked and several thousand pilgrims were stranded and had to be evacuated by the state government machinery which meant that from 1 to 10 August not a single pilgrim visited Kedarnath shrine and 500 less pilgrims visited the shrine between 11-29 August”, he said.

Shailendra Matura, president of Uttarkashi Hotel Association said the introduction of offline pilgrim number process this year and Kedarnath heavy rain fury was also responsible for the low numbers.

“The offline daily pilgrim number process introduced this year along with Kedarnath disaster in Monsoon period were two main reasons in the dip in number of pilgrims and government should keep the online registration but also start offline registration with the start of the yatra so that people who leave in adjacent districts of Uttarakhand in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi can visit the shrine without any hindrance which also help in controlling overcrowding in month of May and June”, Matura said.

Ajai Puri, president Char Dham Hotel Association echoed similar sentiments.

“Due to late start of the yatra this year the unprecedented rush was witnessed especially on Gangotri and Yamunotri shrine routes which led to severe traffic jams due to limited infrastructure which could not cope with the unprecedented rush thus spreading a negative message dissuading the pilgrims from visiting the Char Dham shrines and we recommend that the state government should improve the infrastructure especially the roads so that such chaotic scenes are avoided next yatra season”, Puri said.

Reacting to the numbers, Ajendra Ajay, president Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) said that the early start and closure of the portals of the shrines along with Kedarnath rain fury affected the yatra adversely.

“But if we compare daily average of the available yatra days the pilgrim number is more as compared to last year”, he said.