Following the chaos in Yamunotri when around 45,000 pilgrims were reported at the small shrine town on the first day, making it difficult for the people to even walk the narrow stretch leading to the temple, the Gangotri yatra route is now witnessing severe traffic congestion, causing significant difficulties for pilgrims.
Moreover, the district administration’s approach of halting tourist vehicles at various locations to manage the crowd has further resulted in chaotic situation on both the Gangotri and Yamunotri highways, leaving around 15,000 to 20,000 pilgrims stranded in their vehicles for hours. This led many devotees to turn back from their Char Dham yatra midway.
According to some pilgrims, it is taking around 16 to 20 hours to reach Gangotri due to barriers at various points along the highway. Similar situation is being witnessed on Yamunotri highway, where vehicles are being halted for several hours at different locations.
Amit Bhardwaj from Chandigarh, who came for the yatra with a group of 54 people, said, “We cancelled our trip to Yamunotri after police diverted tourist vehicles towards Gangotri midway. On Monday morning, we somehow managed to reach Gangotri but while returning from the shrine we got stranded near Harsil at around 2pm. We finally reached our hotel in Sukki Top at around 7am on Tuesday morning. It took us over 16 hours to cover the distance of just 12 kms.”
Pritesh Patel from Gujarat expressed his frustration, stating that “despite being stranded for five days on both highways, we were unable to reach any of the two shrines. On Sunday night, we lost our patience and finally decided to return to Uttarkashi.”
Criticising the state govt for the mismanagement, Anita Panwar from Maharashtra, who was forced to return without visiting the Gangotri shrine, said, “The Char Dham package comes at a significant cost of approximately Rs 1 lakh per person. However, the experience of many pilgrims has been marred by subpar management, which renders the substantial financial investment and valuable time spent on the pilgrimage futile.”
Another pilgrim from Gujarat, Manish Gandhi, said, “The administration is not even able to provide basic facilities like drinking water, food and toilets to the stranded pilgrims.”
In Dehradun, tourist attractions like Sahastradhara waterfalls, Robber’s Cave and Maldevta frequently witness traffic gridlocks over the weekend. “We have identified these areas and are implementing diversions and other measures to alleviate the situation. Traffic is expected to increase in the coming weeks,” said Anuj Arya, circle officer ( traffic).
Meanwhile, priests of the Gangotri temple staged a protest against the administration, alleging that the incompetence of officials has left the shrine nearly empty, even during the auspicious occasion of Ganga Saptami. Rajesh Semwal, a priest, said, “Every year a large number of people visit the four shrines, but we have never seen such chaos. The failure of govt machinery is not only hurting the sentiments of pilgrims, but also ruining the state’s reputation. The govt should take strict action against the officials responsible for this mismanagement.”
