DEHRADUN: The recent Joshimath sinking crisis has woken up the Pushkar Singh Dhami’s Uttarakhand government to a new reality: Carrying capacity of Char Dham and other Hill towns. If his government has learnt some lessons from the past, then he can make the  2023 Char Dham Yatra a hassle-free pilgrimage for all. 

In 2022, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami-led Uttarakhand government patted its  back for roping in an all-time record number of pilgrims to Char Dham.

But they also lost sight of an all-time high number of fatalities in Char Dham: About 300 tourists were killed during the Yatra in 2022 as per figure of the Uttarakhand police department.  

Above all, there was chaos in Char Dham as the Uttarakhand administration failed to  bring order to the Yatra. The tourists fended for themselves as chaos spilled all over the Yatra routes as Dham witnessed floods of Yatris.

The complaints of Yatris set the social media on fire.

The yatris complained of shoddy treatment by the Pujaris, who not only overcharged them, but they also allowed them  the passing Darshan of  Kedarnath.

The 2022 Char Dham chaos and its carrying capacity issues have brought in a fresh focus on as to how to manage Yatra in 2023 so that chaos is avoided and pilgrims enjoy Yatra.          

The Joshimath landslide has added a loud  concern to the issue of carrying capacity of hill towns and Char Dham not only Uttarakhand, but also in Himachal Pradesh and all other Himalayan states as never before.

In 2022, the number of pilgrims visiting the Char Dham everyday was fixed while determining the carrying capacity of the Dham.

But this was announced just two days before the commencement of the yatra.

This created a chaotic situation in Char Dham in the initial days of the Yatra.

The pilgrims and devotees had a harrowing time while getting registration for their Yatra.

If the Dhami administration applies its mind, they can manage the Yatra in a planned way in 2023.  

The Uttarakhand government has fixed   April 27  as the date for opening of the portals of Badrinath Dham in the year 2023.

 “It is necessary that this time the situation like last year does not arise and devotees should not reach more than carrying capacity in the Char Dham”, cautions Anoop Nautiyal, Founder of Dehradun-based SDC Foundation.

“It is also necessary that transparency should be maintained on the basis on which the carrying capacity is determined”, he said.

But who will decide the carrying capacity of the Char Dham or any other Hill Towns? Police or District Administration, who has neither expertise nor competency to do so.

For example, in 2022, the opening of the portals for the Char Dham started on May 3.

Just two days before this on May 1, the carrying capacity of the Char Dham was declared.

In the initial phase, the number of devotees was fixed at 38,000 in the Char Dhams.

But they allowed 42,000 pilgrims. As many as 16,000 pilgrims were allowed to visit Badrinath, 13,000 in  Kedarnath, 8,000 in Gangotri and 5,000 in Yamunotri.  “Devotees were allowed to only proceed for the Yatra after registration”, Nautiyal said. 

According to Nautiyal, this process which came just before the commencement of the Yatra had created a massive situation of chaos.

“Many devotees who had reached Uttarakhand had to face a lot of difficulty in completing the registration”.

To avoid this kind of chaos and hassles for the pilgrims, the Dhami government should learn lessons from the past mistakes.

“The number of devotees who reach  the Dham every day should be decided by the end of March 2023”, said Nautiyal. 

“This will ensure that lakhs of devotees who come for the Yatra are able to register in advance and do not face problems as they did in 2022”. 

Who and how the carrying capacity should be fixed?

The carrying capacity should not be determined only on the basis of the number of rooms available in the Dhams and the parking capacity, cautions SDFC.

Carrying capacity depends on factors like topography, geology, environmental and the like.

The Uttarakhand government should determine the carrying capacity in the entire state by following a scientific method.

“The responsibility of determining the carrying capacity should not be given to the district administration or the police”.

“They are neither technically competent nor have the bandwidth to conduct carrying capacity analysis”, says Nautiya.

 According to him, there is a need for a special and technically sound team or force which can scientifically determine the carrying capacity of the Dhams or towns.

Apart from this, health care backup in Dhams should be top priority.

It was observed last year, the number of pilgrims was record-breaking, the death toll of more than 300 pilgrims was also the highest till date, he said.

Though there is no exact reason for the higher death toll in 2022 Yatra, but the experts attribute it to the made rush of the Yatri to make a beeline straight from the 30 Degree Centigrade temperate plains to the chilly atmosphere of Char Dhams located in the snow zone.

The pilgrims are never advised by the Uttarakhand Tourism to acclimatise themselves before they go uphill to the high-altitude region.  

This is certainly a method to reduce fatalities along with improving health services is to ensure that each pilgrim is asked to acclimatize for a day before reaching the Dhams.

“Pilgrims from South India or areas like Mumbai reach Kedarnath or Yamunotri in a single day”, observed Nautiyal.

Then suddenly reaching such a height, many pilgrims face health problems.

“In such a situation, if people stay in a lower area for a day before reaching the holy abodes, then the body will get some time to adapt to this environment”. “This can reduce the number of deaths due to heart attack or other problems”, he said.

Will the Dhami government listen to this, the 2023 Yatra, which is few months away, will only tell this.

But the government has a lot of time to put the arrangements on track. They might   have learnt some lessons from 2022 Yatra and from the Joshimath sliding crisis to make amends this time.