Dehradun:
The Char Dham Yatra 2025 may have hit 51.06 lakh pilgrims, but a new SDC Foundation factsheet lays bare a harsh truth — the Yatra is still being driven by weather tantrums, landslides and shutdowns, not by a professional, resilient management system.
Record Numbers, Repeated Failures
According to the preliminary factsheet released by Social Development for Communities (SDC) Foundation, the 2025 Yatra registered 3,05,179 more pilgrims than 2024.
But instead of stability, the season was marked by extreme volatility, exposing deep cracks in disaster preparedness and operational planning.
Badrinath stayed open for 206 days this year — 16 days more than 2024. Kedarnath saw the highest single-day footfall of 30,154 pilgrims on May 2, 2025.
But beyond these headline numbers lies a worrying picture.
86 Zero-Pilgrim Days — A System in Distress
The five shrines collectively recorded:
86 Zero-Pilgrim Days
67 days with just 1–500 pilgrims
80 days with 501–1000 pilgrims
Gangotri alone had 35 Zero-Pilgrim Days. Yamunotri logged 38.
This, SDC warns, is not normal fluctuation — it is systemic dysfunction caused by weather-triggered road closures, landslides and weak information systems.
“Numbers Don’t Mean Success”
SDC Founder Anoop Nautiyal said the surge in pilgrims cannot overshadow the glaring gaps that continue year after year.
He stressed that carrying-capacity norms, aero safety systems, medical response, route communication, registration systems and local livelihood gains remain far below required standards.
Old Problems, No Real Fix
Drawing from its detailed 2024 report, SDC notes that the same structural weaknesses continue to haunt the Yatra:
Slow road restoration
Poor weather-route communication
Weak disaster mitigation
Unstable footfall patterns
Limited community benefit despite huge numbers
A Call for Serious Overhaul
Nautiyal said Uttarakhand must stop celebrating big numbers and instead build a safe, sustainable and predictable pilgrimage system.
He added that a detailed Char Dham Yatra 2025 Report will be released soon, expanding on the hard data flagged in the factsheet.
He credited Praveen Upreti for the daily tracking effort that made the dataset possible.
If you want, I can also produce a sharper headline or a more hard-hitting opening paragraph.
