Chardham Yatra: Priests and locals must have COVID-19 negative reports
The Uttarakhand government has announced a new set of guidelines for the popular pilgrimage - Chardham Yatra. Amid the growing number of coronavirus cases in the state and across the country, Uttarakhand's Chardham Management Board on Tuesday laid out a standard operating procedure (SOP). On April 29, Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat had suspended the yatra for devotees.
According to the new guideline, only priests and local people linked to the temples, employees, and officers will be permitted entry at the four pilgrimage sites of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri.
It is mandatory for all to carry COVID-19 negative reports for heading to any of these Himalayan shrines. The Char Dham Yatra was scheduled from May 14 this year.
Earlier, the Chief Minister had said, "Uttarakhand government has suspended Char Dham Yatra this year in view of COVID-19 situation in the state. Only priests of the four temples will perform rituals and puja."
Uttarakhand has been seeing a spike in coronavirus cases. According to the official data released by the Union Health Ministry, the state has 55,436 active COVID-19 cases. Uttarakhand has registered 1,824 new cases and 128 related death over the past 24 hours.