oppn parties Suspend The Char Dham Yatra This Year

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  • Bengal CM Suvendhu asks policemen to note down names of those immersing Durga idols as he said only Sanatanis can touch the idol
  • CJP leaders made a promise in court that they will not call for protests at the Jantar Mantar from now onwards
  • The Supreme Court stayed for one week the investigation into the alleged CMRL-Exalogic payments case involving former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his family members. The court allowed them to challenge the order directing registration of an FIR before a Kerala High Court division bench; the temporary stay does not quash the FIR
  • Fresh violence intensified in Manipur on Wednesday as police used tear gas against Meitei protesters in Imphal, while a Kuki civil-society group alleged that several houses had been torched in Khoikai village, Kamjong district. Police said three Kuki-Zo men arrested over Monday's killing of three Meitei firewood collectors were active members of the Kuki National Front (N), a claim disputed by local Kuki groups
  • A Special Executive Magistrate in Delhi ordered the release of Cockroach Janta Party leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka after accepting their sureties. The order followed their detention over a protest at Jantar Mantar; the Delhi High Court had declined to entertain their separate challenge to the extension of their custody
  • US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Jamnagar on Wednesday to focus on energy cooperation involving the giant refinery operated by Reliance Industries. Discussions included the possibility of Indian refiners processing more Venezuelan crude as Washington seeks to diversify energy supplies and address global supply disruptions
  • The Reserve Bank of India rejected all bids in its planned ₹23,000-crore Treasury bill auction on Wednesday, signalling reluctance to accept the higher yields demanded by investors amid tightening banking-system liquidity. The surplus had fallen to ₹48,304 crore on Tuesday, its lowest level in three months, prompting continued liquidity-management operations
  • Heavy overnight rainfall led district administrations to close schools on Wednesday in Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu and Ranipet in Tamil Nadu. Meenambakkam recorded 12 cm of rain and Nungambakkam 11 cm by 6 am, while meteorological officials warned of further heavy rainfall in parts of the state
  • India's infrastructure output grew 7.9% year-on-year in September, the strongest increase under the current data series, driven by electricity generation, refinery products, iron ore and coal. Cumulative growth during April-September reached 5.1%, compared with 2.5% in the corresponding period last year.
  • The ₹3.2-billion-dollar-equivalent public offering of Jio Platforms was subscribed 3.16 times by the end of its first day on Wednesday, making it India's largest IPO. The offering is the first public share sale from the Reliance conglomerate in two decades, and institutional investors filled their reserved portion within minutes of bidding opening.
  • The Indian rupee closed 0.5% stronger at ₹94.46 against the US dollar on Wednesday, its strongest closing level since early September. Foreign inflows linked to the Jio Platforms IPO and Reserve Bank intervention supported the currency, although higher oil prices and falling share prices limited its gains
  • Indian equity markets ended lower on Wednesday, with the BSE Sensex falling 143.21 points, or 0.19%, to 73,709.69, and the Nifty 50 declining 77.60 points, or 0.34%, to 22,811.35. Rising crude prices, which moved above $110 a barrel, weighed on investor sentiment despite the strong initial demand for Jio Platforms' IPO
  • The Finance Ministry's nationwide financial-inclusion campaign began on Wednesday and is scheduled to run until December 31, covering 2.70 lakh gram panchayats and urban local bodies. Banks are to organise enrolment camps, facilitate Aadhaar seeding for the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana and Atal Pension Yojana, and help customers update nominations in savings accounts
  • Indian athletes won five gold medals at the Asian Para Games on Wednesday, with Sachin Khilari winning the men's F46 shot put, Simran Sharma the women's 100m T12, Dilip Gavit the men's 100m T45, Praveen Kumar the men's T64 high jump and Ayush Verma the men's F53 shot put. India's medal tally reached 62 by Wednesday evening, including 14 gold medals, leaving the country fifth in the standings
  • Mamata Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav join calls for release of CJP leaders. The two opposition leaders joined demands for the release of Cockroach Janta Party leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, who are challenging their continued custody
Major data leak reported at SBI, customer data reportedly available on the dark web /////// Calcutta HC denies permisiion for a sitting High Court judge to head Chor Bagan Durga Pujo stampede probe
oppn parties
Suspend The Char Dham Yatra This Year

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2023-02-20 10:40:50

About the Author

Sunil Garodia 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

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.

 

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