Over 20,000 pilgrims visit Char Dham shrines in two months despite soaring Covid-19 cases

Over 20,000 pilgrims have visited the Char Dham shrines in Uttarakhand in the past two months ever since the entry of pilgrims was allowed to these revered Himalayan shrines.

Officials from Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board said that around 35,000 e-passes have been issued to pilgrims of which over 20,000 have already visited the shrines. The response has been good despite the pandemic and soaring Covid-19 cases.

Ravinath Raman, chief executive officer of Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board said, “It is the effort of the state government that there should be a gradual influx of pilgrims in the four shrines so that tourism and pilgrimage can get momentum. The yatra is getting a good response also. Now people from outside the state can also travel by making e-pass for Char Dham Yatra and fulfilling the health-related standards.”

Since July 1, a total of 35,028 e-passes have been issued by the Board to pilgrims from within and outside the state.

Raman added that all social and physical distancing norms are being followed at the temples while giving entry to pilgrims. The officials further informed that the response has slightly reduced due to monsoon. With bad roads, not all pilgrims are able to reach the shrines.

A Covid-19 test from a laboratory certified by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is mandatory for pilgrims visiting from outside the state.

In the last week of July, the Uttarakhand government had decided to allow pilgrims from other states to visit Char Dham shrines with some conditions.

According to the new guidelines, the pilgrims will need to have an RT-PCR negative report conducted within 72 hours of entering the state. If they don’t have a negative report then they will be required to complete the mandatory quarantine period after entering the state before proceeding with the pilgrimage to Char Dham shrines.

The pilgrims are also required to upload their negative RT-PCR report or a declaration on having completed the quarantine on the website of the Char Dham board. They will also need to keep all these documents with them during the pilgrimage.

French woman shot ‘nude’ video at Rishikesh’s Lakshmanjhula, held

A 27-year-old French woman was arrested in Uttarakhand for allegedly getting her nude video shot at Rishikesh’s popular Lakshmanjhula over Ganga, said police on Saturday.

The woman was arrested on Thursday after a local ward councillor Gajendra Sajwan lodged a complaint against the woman on August 25, said police.

RK Saini, senior sub-inspector at Rishikesh’s Muni Ki Reti police station, where the foreign national was booked said, “Sajwan had lodged a complaint that the woman had done a nude video shoot and a photo shoot and put them on social media platforms through which he came to know about it.”

“Based on the complaint, a case was registered against her under the relevant sections of Information Technology Act. During the probe, it was confirmed that the act was done on Lakshmanjhula, which is a public place. Later, some locals said that the woman is living in a hotel in Rishikesh,” said Siani.

After verifying her address, police then went to her hotel and questioned her over the incident.

“During the questioning, she accepted to have shot the video in nude but claimed she was not aware that it’s illegal in India. She said the video and the photoshoot was intended to promote her bead-necklace business. She was then arrested on Thursday,” said Saini.

However, she was later granted bail.

“It seems that she wasn’t aware that it’s illegal in India, as in France, it’s not so uncommon. She is in Rishikesh since the last four-five months and is staying in a hotel at present,” said Saini.

Cameras installed at Badrinath dham for ‘online darshan’ amid pandemic

The Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board (CDMB) authorities in Uttarakhand have started work for online darshan of the Char Dham shrines for pilgrims in a bid to avoid overcrowding at the sacred temples because of the raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, state government officials said.

CDMB authorities will allow online darshan in the revered shrines of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri in a bid to keep the viral infection at bay.

Ravinath Raman, chief executive officer (CEO), CDMB, said, “Initially, online darshan will be available for the Badrinath shrine, where cameras are being installed.”

Raman said the cameras and other equipment are being installed by a telecom company for free of cost.

“The equipment is being installed by the company as per a CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiative, but they will be owned by the board. Work has started in Badrinath and it will be followed by the Kedarnath shrine. However, the process may take a while, as the heavy equipment needed to be lugged to a higher altitude at the height of the monsoon season,” said Raman.

The CEO, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) official, said that after the work is completed, images and videos of the four shrines would be live-streamed on several websites.

“The live streaming will be done on the board’s or the chief minister’s website and also via social media platforms,” he said.

Raman said the online darshan initiative would be reviewed after the viral outbreak subsides.

“This is not a permanent arrangement. We will stop the online initiative after normalcy returns in a post Covid-19 world,” he added.

The CDMB data showed that 21,670 pilgrims visited the Char Dham portals until August 30.

The CDMB authorities said 10,899 and 6,491 devotees visited Badrinath and Kedarnath shrines, respectively, until August 30. Badrinath and Kedarnath portals were opened for the public on May 15 and April 29, respectively.

While the Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines have reported 3,837 and 533 pilgrims, respectively, after their portals were opened on April 26.

The authorities maintained that the virtual inflow of pilgrims is much less this year because of the contagion.

Ganga activist Swami Shivanand ends fast after Centre’s assurance to consider demands

After agitating for exactly a month, Ganga activist and spiritual ideologue Swami Shivanand Saraswati ended his agitation after Union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) director general Rajeev Ranjan Mishra assured to look into his demands raised for protection of river Ganga.

A letter of assurance by NMCG director general was handed out to Swami Shivanand Saraswati by the representatives of Ganga Vichar Manch, who arrived at Matri Sadan ashram premises on Wednesday late evening, following which the Ganga activist ended his fast.

Swami Shivanand Saraswati said he has been assured by the minister that his demands-- scrapping of hydro power electric projects being built on Ganga and its sub tributaries, prohibition on quarrying activities and shifting of stone crushers from Ganga river-bed by at least 5km, speedy enactment of Ganga Act and inclusion of pro-Ganga activists and seers in the draft panel committee—will be considered.

Ganga Vichar Manch founder Bharat Pathak said that Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Shekhawat was in constant touch with him about Swamiji’s health and had a telephonic dialogue which led to the breakthrough.

“After this assurance, we hope that soon concrete steps will be taken on demands made by Swami Shivanand Saraswati and another ashramites, who have been, off late, staging numerous agitations for the cause of protecting holy Ganga River and conservation of its ecology,” said Ganga Vichar Manch founder Bharat Pathak.

Magsaysay awardee Rajendra Singh said it is high time that the government and the concerned authorities acted promptly and took suggestions from Matri Sadan ashramites as they have been the flag-bearers of agitations on the issue.

Notably, Swami Shivanand had started his agitation on August 3, relying only on intake of five glasses of water and had curtailed it to four glasses since last Sunday.

Prior to starting the agitation, he had pointed out that his ‘tapasya’ (fight for Ganga) is a continuation of the sincere efforts carried out by late Swami Nigmanand, Swami Gyan Swarup Sanand, an IIT professor, and fellow ashramites Sadhvi Padmavati and Brahamchari Atmabodhanand, who all had staged more than hundred days long fast unto death agitations at Matri Sadan ashram in a span of past two years.

Owing to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, Swami Shivanand had postponed his agitation on March 30 after staging it for twenty days.