Suspend The Char Dham Yatra This Year
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2023-02-20 10:40:50
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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack
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The Uttarakhand government had announced the dates for the Char Dham yatra and it is to start in April this year. But it has been reported that large cracks have resurfaced on the Badrinath highway near Joshimath. This is a matter of concern as last year a record 40 lakh pilgrims availed of the yatra and visited the four shrines of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. Out of this, a record 17.6 lakh pilgrims visited Badrinath using the highway. A disaster is waiting to happen if those many or more pilgrims turn up this year too.
Some of the cracks that are being seen now are the ones that were earlier filled with cement by the BRO when they first appeared. If they have (and newer ones) resurfaced, it means that filling such cracks with cement is not a solution and is just a temporary measure which is not safe. The real problem is of land subsidence and filling cracks with cement is not the answer as the land will subside again when a huge number of vehicles used by the yatris ply on the highway. It will certainly reopen the earlier cracks and the load of the vehicles will also generate newer cracks. This may even lead to huge subsidence.
Keeping the safety of the region as well as that of the pilgrims in mind, it would be better if the Uttarakhand government either cancels the yatra this year or suspends it till experts look at the problem and suggest a solution that can withstand the expected onslaught of vehicles on the Badrinath highway if the yatra is allowed. It is true that the religious sentiments of the people will be hurt if the yatra is not allowed but it was also suspended in 2020 and halted in 2021 due to Covid. The situation is as grave now as it was then although the reasons are different. The government must give importance to the safety of the people residing in the area and of the pilgrims as the ground situation is not conducive to allowing the yatra.
