Saturday, 25 February 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Char Dham Yatra may break last year’s record: Maharaj
Munsyari in Pithoragarh district has won the best mountain destination award in the India Today tourism survey awards. Accepting the award from Union minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Culture, Arjun Ram Meghwal at a function in New Delhi on Friday, the State’s Tourism and Culture minister Satpal Maharaj dedicated the award to the State government’s farsighted vision for tourism and everyone involved in making Uttarakhand a better State.
Speaking on the occasion, Maharaj said that the international Yoga festival and coming Char Dham Yatra will set new standards for the tourism industry. The minister said that since registrations for the Char Dham Yatra started on Tuesday, more than one lakh people have registered. The State has provided four options for pilgrims to register for the Yatra. They can register online, through an app, on call and by WhatsApp. He said. “More than one lakh registrations in just three days is a world record in itself and we hope that the Char Dham Yatra this year will break its previous year’s record. The administration will ensure proper health checks for pilgrims reaching Uttarakhand for the Yatra. Necessary arrangements like posting of doctors and other medical professionals have been ensured along with medicines and essential health related items. Further, for extension of facilities for pilgrims, the project works underway in Badrinath and Kedarnath will be completed before the start of the Yatra this year. Apart from this, the State government has also developed Shaiv, Shakt, Vaishnav, Navgrah, Goljyu, Narsinh, Gurudwara, Hanuman, Nag Devta, Swami Vivekanand and other religious circuits for people visiting Uttarakhand.”
The minister informed that all preparations have been completed for the international Yoga festival to be held in Rishikesh from March 1 to 7. Yogacharyas from prominent institutions of the nation will be participating in this event which will be attended be people from across the nation and abroad. Maharaj said that the Tourism department had also started an incentive scheme for tour operators to maximise the number of foreign tourists in the Yoga festival. He said that the Yamunotri ropeway project for which an agreement was signed on Thursday will make it convenient for pilgrims and tourists to reach Yamunotri in the future.
