Tuesday, 31 May 2022 | PNS | DEHRADUN
More than 13 lakh people have visited the Char Dham shrines so far. Meanwhile, the tour operators association of Uttarakhand met Tourism secretary Dilip Jawalkar who appealed to them to let the pilgrims contacting them know that there is no need to rush as the pilgrimage will continue in the State for the next five months. The association members requested him to enable registration of people who have made group bookings through travel agents but were unable to register online for the Char Dham Yatra. Agreeing to their demand, Jawalkar said that travel agents can forward such cases through the association and get the registration done. He said that providing log-in facility to tour operators will be considered in the future.
The association also requested that the number of offline registration counters be increased in Haridwar which the secretary agreed to in principle. Jawalkar asked the association office bearers to immediately inform the police, administration and Tourism department if they come to know about any person or business facilitating fraudulent registration of pilgrims. The pilgrims should also be made aware of this, he said. Jawalkar also appealed to the association members to inform the devotees contacting them that the Char Dham Yatra in Uttarakhand will continue for five more months considering which there is no need for them to rush. They should first register and then plan their pilgrimage accordingly. The tour operators can also make the travellers aware of the need for special focus on sanitation and garbage disposal, said the Tourism secretary. The association head Vikram Rana, his deputy Navin Mohan Upadhyay and other office bearers were present in the meeting with Jawalkar.
Meanwhile, according to the Tourism department, 13,11,593 persons have visited the Char Dham shrines and Hemkund Sahib Gurudwar so far. According to official data, 1,83,556 persons have visited Yamunotri, 2,46,541 have visited Gangotri, 4,18,384 have visited Kedarnath and 4,47,017 have visited Badrinath. Apart from this, 16,095 persons have visited Hemkund Sahib Gurudwara so far.
