Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee members to review situations at shrine: Yatra admin

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], February 22 (ANI): The Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) on Wednesday said that the preparations for the Char Dham yatra 2023 began soon after the temples' portals shut last year.
Talking to ANI about the preparations for the Char Dham Yatra, scheduled to start in April, Chairman Temple Committee President Ajay Ajendra said, "The preparations for the yatra had started after the closure of the doors in winter. All the departments related to the Yatra have presented their action plan before Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. CM Dhami has also given guidelines to rectify problematic issues."
He further said that the administration is expecting a large number of devotees this year as well, and for that teams of the temple committee have been sent for deployment at the four temples-- Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri, and Gangotri.
"This year also, the devotees are expected to come in huge numbers. In this sequence, four teams of Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee were sent to the four big temples of the country," he said adding that they would study the situations there and will prepare reports and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) will be made on its basis only.
Notably, the Uttarakhand government in its latest decision has asked every pilgrim to undergo a compulsory registration process mandatorily and in this regard.
Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand Government, SS Sandhu, stated that this time it is estimated that more pilgrims will come for Char Dham Yatra than the last time, hence several new arrangements have been made.
The state government is also planning to communicate the recently issued directives through pan-India newspaper advertising across all languages in every state.
It is pertinent to mention that the Char Dham Yatra that, this year, the yatra is likely to undergo an alternate route because of the recent land subsidence in Joshimath town of Uttarakhand which is believed as the last stop to reach Badrinath.
While taking note of the importance of the issue of Pilgrim's safety Chief Minister Dhami said "Char Dhams of Uttarakhand are major centres of religious faith for the devotees. It is the responsibility of all of us that the journey of all the devotees should be safe and smooth."
Char Dham Yatra is scheduled to begin in the month of April 2023. (ANI)