Will Pushkar Singh Dhami Listen to the voices of reality on Ground?
Dehradun: The Char Dham Yatra this year has brutally exposed Uttarakhand’s fragile infrastructure and the shaky model of faith-driven tourism.
What was expected to be a smooth spiritual journey for lakhs of pilgrims has turned into a story of chaos in summers and collapse in monsoon.
In May and June, the four shrines saw a stampede-like rush. Pilgrims were forced to stand back-to-back in endless queues, while highways turned into parking lots for vehicles stuck for hours.
Traffic jams stretched for miles. Liquidity points of traffic collapsed. Toilets, water supply, and medical aid were nowhere enough to match the crowd.
The carrying capacity of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri, and Gangotri was pushed beyond its limits, leaving both pilgrims and locals in distress.
By July, the scene completely flipped. As soon as the rains arrived, the lifeline roads turned into death traps.
Landslides and rockfalls became routine. Highways broke down, potholes multiplied, and entire stretches were blocked for days.
Pilgrims either abandoned their journeys midway or found themselves stranded in dangerous conditions. By August, the same shrines that saw stampede-like crowds wore a deserted look.
Towns dependent on the Yatra for income fell silent. Small hoteliers, shopkeepers, and transporters were left staring at empty pockets, struggling even for two square meals.
Fresh numbers from SDC Foundation show how grim the season has been. From April 30 to August 31, there were 55 Zero-Pilgrim Days—days when not a single pilgrim could reach the shrines.
On 89 other days, the turnout was as low as 1–1,000 pilgrims. Such disruption has never been recorded at this scale in recent years.
Among the shrines, Yamunotri was the worst hit with 23 Zero-Pilgrim Days and 30 days of minimal footfall. Gangotri was close behind, logging 27 Zero-Pilgrim Days.
Even Kedarnath, usually the busiest, faced 19 lean days. Hemkund Sahib had 29 days of low turnout, while Badrinath, the most accessible shrine, also struggled with two Zero-Pilgrim Days.
The story was straight: weather wiped out numbers everywhere.
“This has been one of the most disrupted pilgrimage seasons in memory,” said Anoop Nautiyal, founder of SDC Foundation.
“Repeated extreme weather events, landslides, and disasters have broken the back of Uttarakhand’s economy. The state must stop boasting of record-breaking pilgrim numbers and instead build resilience into the Yatra system.”
He stressed the urgent need for climate-resilient roads, proper drainage, reliable weather monitoring, robust communication, and disaster-proof shelters across the route.
The impact is not just religious or spiritual—it is economic. Lakhs of locals rely on these four months for their annual earnings.
But the sudden collapse of pilgrim inflow this year has left them staring at financial ruin. Small hoteliers, roadside shopkeepers, mule operators, and transporters have been pushed towards bankruptcy.
Nautiyal has demanded a comprehensive relief package to compensate losses, prevent social unrest, and address the mental health burden among already vulnerable mountain communities.
Experts outside the government are equally blunt. “The Kedarnath tragedy of 2013 still looms like a ghost over Uttarakhand.
We lost thousands of lives when floods swallowed the valley. Ignoring that lesson is dangerous.
Allowing mass pilgrimages in peak monsoon months is reckless and unethical,” said one disaster management researcher, warning that faith cannot be allowed to override safety.
September has already proved their fears right. The Yatra has been suspended several times this month.
Roads to Yamunotri and Gangotri are badly damaged. Fresh landslides have cut off access.
The weeks ahead will test whether the state has any real preparedness or whether it will once again scramble in reaction.
The bottom line is clear: The Char Dham Yatra cannot remain a numbers game.
It must be made disaster- and climate-proof, not just record-proof. Unless Uttarakhand shifts its focus from statistics to sustainability, the Yatra will continue to swing violently—stampede in summers, silence in monsoons.
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