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Opposition blames laxity of state government for deaths.
While more than 20 lakh devotees have registered for the Chardham Yatra in Uttarakhand, over 11 lakh devotees have visited the pilgrim site so far since the pilgrimage began on May 3. As many as 91 pilgrims have lost their lives during the course of the yatra.
As the pilgrimage was disrupted for the last two years owing to Covid, a large number of devotees are visiting the site this year. As a result, there was a lack of arrangements.
Although the state government is claiming that all the arrangements in the dhams are in place, there are several problems being faced by the devotees.
Initially, there was a lot of confusion due to non-compulsory registration. When the government realized its mistake, then registration was made mandatory in a hurry.
There was no preparation for crowd control. When the number of deaths started increasing, the government assigned two of its ministers who are now monitoring and are trying to make the yatra smooth.
Chardham Yatra is an important responsibility of the Ministry of Tourism and Pilgrimage. When devotees from all over the country and abroad were marching ahead and the government system was on the back foot to handle the crowd, Uttarakhand Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj went on a foreign tour.
The state health department suffered because of a shortage of specialist doctors in health camps. Health Minister Dhan Singh Rawat is busy with claims and rhetoric and the death toll of devotees is increasing.
The condition of elderly and sick devotees becomes dangerous due to lack of oxygen in the high mountains. So far, most of the devotees have died due to heart attacks and the reason for this is said to be lack of oxygen. The government is repeatedly appealing to the sick devotees not to come on the yatra, but most of the elderly devotees are taking part in the yatra by hiding their illness.
Before the start of yatra, the Congress had raised questions that this time there will be a huge crowd of devotees. Despite that, arrangement had not been made accordingly.
Former Leader of Opposition Pritam Singh said that the Uttarakhand government has proved to be a complete failure in conducting the Chardham Yatra. “No roadmap was prepared by the government to conduct the yatra. Due to this, the process of death of devotees continues.”
Cabinet Minister Premchandra Agrawal said: “Despite the government’s request, devotees are going on the pilgrimage.”
Tourism secretary Dilip Jawalkar said that the issue of deaths in Chardham is a matter of concern for the government. “ As many as 62 percent of the people who have died so far have confirmed that they have been infected with coronavirus. Such people need to take all precautions. Also, where earlier people used to take 9-10 days for the Yatra, the same is now being covered in a few days. As a result, their body is not able to adjust with the environment there and their heart rate is stopping.”
Recently, the screening of devotees is being done by the administration to ascertain if a person is eligible for the Yatra or not.
ALERT ON DEATH OF MULES
In Uttarakhand, apart from Chardham devotees, 70 mules have also died so far. Former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi has expressed concern over the animal deaths operated for the convenience of passengers on the Yatra route. Tourism Minister Maharaj and Animal Husbandry Minister Saurabh Bahuguna have taken cognizance of this. According to Bahuguna, 50 percent of horses and mules will be operated daily on the yatra. Instructions have also been given that if any horse-mule operator ignores the rules, then an FIR will be lodged against him. Not only this, but if a horse-mule dies due to the negligence of the operator, then his insurance amount will be stopped.
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