Chardham Yatra: Uttarakhand's New Covid Guidelines, Shrine Board's SOPs

Chardham Yatra: According to the new guidelines only priests, local people linked to the temples, employees and officers will be allowed

The Uttarakhand government has announced a new set of guidelines for the popular pilgrimage - Chardham Yatra. Amid the growing number of coronavirus cases in the state and across the country,  Uttarakhand's Chardham Management Board on Tuesday laid out a standard operating procedure (SOP). On April 29, Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat had suspended the yatra for devotees. According to the new guideline, only priests and local people linked to the temples, employees, and officers will be permitted entry at the four pilgrimage sites of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri. It is mandatory for all to carry COVID-19 negative reports for heading to any of these Himalayan shrines. The Char Dham Yatra was scheduled from May 14 this year.