NEW DELHI, Oct 6: Responding to the state government’s plea to modify a previous court order restricting the number of pilgrims allowed daily at the Char Dham shrines, the Uttarakhand High Court has removed the cap.
In its order dated September 16, the court had allowed the Char Dham Yatra but had placed restrictions on the total number of pilgims allowed in each of the shrines: 1,000 pilgrims were permitted to visit Badrinath, 800 to Kedarnath, 600 to Gangotri and 400 were allowed at Yamunotri.
In its revised order on Wednesday, a bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma said, “Admittedly, the number of Covid cases is steadily declining throughout the country… Therefore, in the present scenario, it would indeed be in the interest of justice to remove the upper cap limit for the pilgrims to visit the Char Dham.”
However, the court asked the government to only allow pilgrims with negative RT-PCR reports and vaccination certificates, and ensure distancing, sufficient accommodation, and strengthen medical facilities.
(Manas Dasgupta)