Char Dham Yatra to resume for state residents beginning July 1

The Uttarakhand government on Sunday extended the ongoing Covid-19 curfew from June 22-29 with more relaxations under which it permitted Char Dham Yatra for the locals, said cabinet minister and government spokesperson Subodh Uniyal.

“The government, after a meeting under CM Tirath Singh Rawat on Sunday, has decided to extend the ongoing Covid Curfew from June 22-29 but with more relaxations under which shops are now allowed to open five days a week except on Saturday and Sunday. The timings would be the same as earlier,” Uniyal said.

Under the new guidelines for the Covid-19 curfew, the government has also allowed restaurants and bars to open with 50% occupancy while adhering to sanitisation measures.

Informing that the curfew extension is with “some more relaxations”, Uniyal said, “In the new guidelines, the government has also decided to allow Char Dham Yatra for the locals. Under this, the locals of Rudraprayag district, which hosts the Kedarnath shrine, would be allowed to visit the highly revered shrine. Similarly, locals of Chamoli district would be allowed to visit Badrinath shrine and those of Uttarkashi district would be allowed to visit Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines from July 1. Residents of other districts of the state would be allowed to visit the Char Dham shrines from July 11. All have to carry either a negative RT-PCR test report or a negative Rapid Antigen Test report.”

The minister also informed that the government has also decided to allow people from other states to come to Uttarakhand while carrying any of the above-mentioned test reports.

Citing the decisions of the meeting, Uniyal also said that the restaurants and hotels could now hold dining with 50% capacity. “Bars could also serve customers with the same occupancy. However, all the restaurants, hotels and bars would have to close down at 10 pm till 6 am,” said Uniyal.

He also informed that night the curfew will continue across all urban areas.

“It will continue till the government makes sure that every citizen is secure and safe health-wise because the Covid-19 cases are still being reported in the state, though in fewer numbers. The government would again hold another meeting on June 28 to decide on the further extension of Covid Curfew, if it deems so,” said Uniyal.

Uttarakhand on Saturday reported 220 new cases with 5 more deaths taking the total active cases in the state to 3,220 with a death toll of 7,026. The state has reported a total of 338,508 Covid-19 positive cases since the pandemic outbreak last year, of which 322,475 people have recovered from the disease.