Dehradun, Oct 29 (PTI) Despite multiple natural disasters in the state this monsoon, the number of pilgrims arriving for Uttarakhand's Chardham Yatra surpassed 50 lakh, officials said on Wednesday.
According
to the latest data from the Uttarakhand Tourism Department, 50,12,970 pilgrims had arrived for darshan at the Chardham — Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath — and Hemkund Sahib.
Last year, during the entire pilgrimage season, more than 48 lakh pilgrims visited the Chardham and Hemkund Sahib. Although the doors of Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath, and Hemkund Sahib have closed for the winter, Badrinath's doors are scheduled to shut on November 25.
Officials expect this figure to reach 52 lakh pilgrims by the end of the Chardham Yatra.
A tourism department official said, "The Badrinath Yatra still has 28 more days to go and considering the average daily arrival of 5,000-6,000 pilgrims, the figure is expected to reach 52 lakh."
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities recorded 34.80 lakh pilgrims in 2019. The number shrank to 2.39 lakh in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions, and 5.48 lakh in 2021.
In 2022, the Yatra rebounded, with the number of pilgrims reaching 46.27 lakh and in 2023, this figure reached a record 56.18 lakh.
The official said that if so many disasters had not struck this year, the Yatra might have set a new record.
Following the Dharali disaster on August 5, cloudbursts, floods, and landslides wreaked havoc in many parts of this mountainous region, especially in the Garhwal region.
Over 40 days between August and September, the Chardham Yatra was virtually derailed due to disasters at several places, including Dharali, Sayanachatti and Tharali. In the first week of September, the Yatra was postponed for four days due to a bad weather warning. PTI DPT APL APL AMJ
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