Uttarakhand government moves high court to remove daily cap on Chardham pilgrims

The state government has approached the Uttarakhand High Court seeking removal of the daily limit imposed on the number of pilgrims visiting Chardham. While vacating its stay on the Chardham Yatra last month, the high court had imposed a daily cap on the number of pilgrims visiting the Himalayan temples as a precautionary measure in view of the Covid pandemic. The state government, in a modification application filed before the division bench of Justice R C Khulbe and Justice Alok Kumar on Friday, also said if the cap cannot be removed entirely then the limit should be increased to 3,000 for both Badrinath and Kedarnath, 1,000 for Gangotri and 700 for Yamunotri. The current limit is 1,000 pilgrims daily for Badrinath, 800 for Kedarnath, 600 for Gangotri and 400 for Yamunotri. The state government's application said that the daily limit on pilgrims is affecting the earnings of people engaged in Chardham-related businesses as the yatra, which had a delayed start, can go on only till mid-November. However, the court directed that the matter be mentioned in the regular bench of the Chief Justice on Monday.