Only online registration for Char Dham yatra this year: Officials

Mussoorie: Only people who register online will be allowed to undertake the Char Dham yatra this year, people familiar with the development said, asserting that the tourism department has decided against offline reservations this year.

The people cited above said the offline registration, permitted till last year, created complications in reconciling statistics.

“The pilgrims can register online through WhatsApp, the website of the tourism department, and a special mobile app which will be ready for trial within a week or so and ready for download by April,” said SS Samant, senior research officer tourism department

He added that online registration would also encourage pilgrims to plan their trip well in advance. The mobile application for Char Dham yatra will be available for download in the Google play store and Apple store by the first week of April, said Samant.

According to the officials privy to the developments, a meeting on Char Dham yatra preparations was held on Thursday and chaired by transport secretary Arvind Singh Hayanki. Officials from the Tourism Department also attended the meeting where it was decided that this yatra season, the tourism department will only register pilgrims online through its website instead of offline mode so that the advance registrations can be done according to the carrying capacity of the pilgrims in the four shrines of Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath.

It has also been decided that the trip card with the details of vehicles and names of the pilgrims will be filled out online through a link given on the tourism website instead of the transport department website as soon as the pilgrim yatra registration is completed.

Sundar Singh Panwar, president of Uttarakhand Taxi-Maxi Mahasangh said, “The pilgrims and the taxi operators had to go through utter confusion during the Char Dham Yatra last year, and we hope that the registration processes are streamlined for the pilgrims in such a way that even the people from the rural background can register without any difficulty.”

Deepak Bhatt, another taxi operator from Chinyali Saud Uttarkashi said, “the government should come out with a smart card in which all the details of pilgrims are registered and are shared across to all teams involved in Char Dham yatra arrangements.”

Yogendar Gangwar, deputy director of tourism, said, “ We are working to streamline the registration process so that the pilgrims do not have to face any problems during the Yatra season this year”.

Badrinath and Kedarnath, along with Yamunotri and Gangotri, collectively called Char Dham, attract lakhs of pilgrims each year. Char Dham shrines remain shut for around six months every year, opening in summer (April or May) and closing with the onset of winter (October or November).

Yogendra Singh, chief executive officer of Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee, said, “The pilgrims interested in special prayer can register online through the temple committee website to avoid the last-minute rush, but before doing that, they should ensure that their registration for the Yatra is complete on the tourism website.”