New Delhi: The Uttarakhand government is planning to partially open the doors to Chardham Yatra for residents of 3 local districts, starting July 1, and may also reopen schools next month.
The State Cabinet took these decisions on Friday, government spokesperson Subodh Uniyal said.
Accordingly, the temples at Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri will be opened only for the residents of the Chamoli, Rudraprayag, and Uttarkashi districts. Senior officers will coordinate with the district administrations to regulate the number of pilgrims in these temples.
Every pilgrim will have to carry a negative report of Rapid Antigen or RT-PCR test to be allowed entry. However, only a limited number of pilgrims will be allowed at a time, whose number is yet to be announced.
He said in view of the predictions of a third wave and Delta mutant of the virus, the decision to open the yatra for the whole state has been deferred for the time being.
Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand High Court has reprimanded the state government for its hasty decision to open the yatra.
On the other hand, the Education Department is waiting for the state government’s decision to re-open schools after summer vacations, probably in July.
The issue was discussed in a meeting chaired by Education Minister Arvind Pandey. In the Vidhan Sabha also, ministers unanimously recommended that keeping schools closed for long could adversely affect studies.
(Avya Mathur)