Devotees have hailed the Nainital High Court's ruling to lift the ban on the Chardham Yatra.
"We hail from Delhi and are heading towards Kedarnath, and are following all the COVID-19 guidelines and are fully vaccinated," said a tourist.
"This is the matter of joy that the Court and government have allowed the Chardham Yatra and Hemkund Yatra together. The Yatris have started arriving and it is also important to inform that Yatris have to follow the COVID guidelines which are given by the Centre, Uttrakhand Government and as well from Shri Hemkund Sahib Management Trust are being aware of the guidelines," Vice President of Shri Hemkund Sahib Management Trust, Narendra Jeet Singh Bindra told ANI.
"We are informing the pilgrims and devotees that they need to register themselves in Dehradun Smart city web portal, and yatris who are fully vaccinated do not have to register, they have to bring their certificate only," said Bindra.
"Towards Hemkund Gurudwara, there are various gurdwaras which lie in the route, which are in Haridwar, Rishikesh, Srinagar, Joshimath, Govind Dham and in these gurdwaras through trust, we have arranged all the facilities. And I heartily welcome all the yatris in the state," Bindra added.
The Uttarakhand government on Friday, in its Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the Chardham Yatra, made it mandatory for pilgrims to possess a Covid negative report.
According to the SOPs, registration and e-pass will be mandatory for darshan in the four pilgrimages. A Covid negative report is compulsory unless there is a certificate to prove that both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered.
The Nainital High Court on Thursday lifted the ban on Chardham Yatra and allowed only fully Covid vaccinated people with a mandatory COVID-19 negative report for the annual pilgrimage.
The court ordered devotees to follow strict COVID-19 protocols and limited the number of visitors too.
The High court said that only 800 devotees will be allowed at Kedarnath Dham, 1200 at Badrinath Dham, 600 at Gangotri and 400 devotees at Yamunotri Dham in a day.
( With inputs from ANI )
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