Our responsibility to ensure passengers complete journey safely during Chardham Yatra: Uttarakhand DGP

May 14, 2024

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], May 14: Uttarakhand DGP Abhinav Kumar on Tuesday held a meeting with police officials on Tuesday through video conference regarding the arrangements for the Chardham Yatra.
He said that he considered it his and the entire police department's responsibility to ensure that the journey of passengers is completed safely.
After this meeting, DGP Abhinav Kumar spoke to ANI and said that it has been five days since the yatra started and the problems that have come up during this period have been reviewed and discussions have been held to resolve them.
DGP Abhinav Kumar said, "For every passenger coming to the state for the purpose of Chardham Yatra, I consider it my and the entire police department's responsibility to ensure that their journey is completed safely."
DGP Abhinav Kumar said that the Tourism Department has made arrangements for registration for the yatra, and so far more than 25 lakh registrations have been done. He said that in view of the crowd of passengers, all the Superintendents of Police were asked to allow the same number of passengers to travel according to the arrangements of the Dhams, and at the same time, passengers were also appealed to plan their journey on weekdays only.
The DGP said that in view of the large number of passengers, the police have to stop traffic at many places, this is being done for the safety of passengers and local people. Along with this, he said that after talking to the tourism department, LED boards are also being installed at many places so that the passengers who are travelling on that route can get complete information related to the journey.
Earlier, to ensure the smooth and safe conduct of the Chardham Yatra, one magistrate each will be deployed in Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi districts. A meeting of top officials was held on Monday on the instructions of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami in which the decision was taken.
As of May 11, registration figures indicate a substantial turnout, with over 8.3 lakh devotees registered for Kedarnath and a total of 24.4 lakh registrations for all four Dhams, including Badrinath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri.
The Uttarakhand government, under the leadership of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, deployed three secretary-level officers in the Char Dham area.
Chief Minister Dhami, following extensive discussions with Chief Secretary Radha Raturi, directed the appointment of these officers to oversee travel arrangements in the respective districts falling within the Char Dham area.
The appointed officers include Secretary R Rajesh Kumar for Rudraprayag district, SN Pandey for Chamoli district, and Ranjit Kumar Sinha for Uttarkashi district. Their primary responsibility is to monitor travel arrangements, gather feedback from district magistrates, and ensure a well-organised Char Dham Yatra at the government level. Chief Minister Dhami is also actively involved in overseeing the travel arrangements. He has instructed ministers in charge of the associated districts and Chief Secretary Radha Raturi to maintain continuous monitoring.