138 Char Dham Yatra pilgrims died this year so far, 80% due to medical reasons
Most of the pilgrims to Char Dham shrines come in private vehicles and mini-buses and they head straight to the shrines without properly acclimatising, which is leading to rising in deaths due to medical ailments/cardiac arrests, said officials
One hundred and thirty eight pilgrims have died during the Char Dham yatra this year so far due to health ailments and accidents, with a maximum of 69 on the Kedarnath Dham route, officials said, adding that the pilgrim influx has also crossed the three million mark, including the one million at Kedarnath Dham.
According to the data of the state emergency operation centre Dehradun till Friday, of the 138 pilgrims who have died so far, 69 have died on the Kedarnath Dham route, 28 on the Yamunotri route, 25 on the Badrinath route and 16 on the Gangotri route. Apart from this, six have died on the Hemkund Sahib route.
The Char Dham yatra this year started with the opening of the portals of Gangotri and Yamunotri on April 22, followed by the opening of portals of Kedarnath and Badrinath Dhams on April 25 and April 27 respectively.
Most of the pilgrims to Char Dham shrines come in private vehicles and mini-buses and they head straight to the shrines without properly acclimatising, which is leading to rising in deaths due to medical ailments/cardiac arrests, said officials.
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They said that most of the deaths are happening in the Kedarnath Dham area, where pilgrims have to trek over 16 km from Gaurikund.
Last year of 300 deaths, the highest in Char Dham Yatra so far, around 135 had died in the Kedarnath area. According to officials, nearly 80% of these deaths were due to health ailments and cardiac arrest while the rest were due to accidents.
On the first day of the Yatra this year (April 22), a 62-year-old pilgrim from Gujarat died due to cardiac arrest on his way to Yamunotri Dham.
Last year by June 26, 201 pilgrims had died including, 95 pilgrims on the Kedarnath Yatra route, 51 on the Badrinath Dham route, 13 in Gangotri and 42 on the Yamunotri Dham route.
Anoop Nautiyal, Dehradun-based social activist said, “High human and animal fatalities in the ongoing Char Dham Yatra are a matter of immense concern. Wildly chasing the immature goal of setting pilgrim arrival records in 2023, the state government and authorities here are paying inadequate attention to improving facilities and minimising fatalities from the overall perspective.
“Tourism and pilgrimage in Uttarakhand need to develop a culture of safety and reliability. This can only happen with concerted efforts, strict adherence to principles of realistic carrying capacity guidelines and deploying adequate resources on the Char Dham route. While there is talk of pilgrim awareness and sanitization, no serious efforts are visible on the ground”, he said.
Dr Vinita Shah, director general of health, Uttarakhand, said around 300 doctors have been deputed on Char Dham routes this year.
“Health screening of passengers is being held along the routes and health advisories have been issued in different Indian languages this year. Pilgrims with a medical history are being advised not to embark on the yatra and check with their doctors first,” he said.
Dr Shah said to lessen deaths during the yatra, this year state government also issued a health advisory in April. “If pilgrims follow all the guidelines and suggestions listed in the advisory, the death toll will be considerably reduced”, she said.
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The health advisory states, “...all the pilgrimage sites in the Char Dham Yatra are located in the high Himalayan region, whose height is more than 2,700 meters above sea level. Travellers in these places can be affected by extreme cold, low humidity, extreme ultraviolet radiation, low air pressure and low oxygen content. High altitude can cause medical issues, as such, pilgrims have been advised to plan their trip for at least seven days, allowing time to acclimatize”.
The advisory has also advised pilgrims above 55 years of age or who have a history of heart disease, asthma, hypertension, or diabetes, should get a health check-up done to ensure fitness for the trip.
So far 30.83 lakh pilgrims have visited Char Dham shrines, including 10.38 lakh to Kedarnath Dham, 9.24 lakh to Badrinath Dham, 5.4 lakhs to Gangotri and 4.7 lakh to Yamunotri, according to government data.
Last year over 44 lakh pilgrims had visited Char Dham shrines. In 2021, around 5 lakh pilgrims had visited Char Dham shrines, while in 2020, 3.1 lakh pilgrims had come for the yatra. In 2019, over 32.40 lakh pilgrims visited Char Dham shrines.