Chardham Yatra: Portals of Yamunotri, Gangotri to Open Without Devotees amid Covid-19
News 18The Chardham Yatra will have a lacklustre opening for the second consecutive year due to COVID-19 pandemic as the portals of Yamunotri and Gangotri will open on Friday and Saturday respectively without any pilgrims in attendance. Not more than 25 people each, including priests, teerth purohits and district administration officials, will attend the opening ceremonies at Yamunotri and Gangotri which will be low-key affairs, Gangotri Mandir Samiti official Rajesh Semwal said. Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat had announced suspension of the Chardham Yatra on April 29 but said that the temples would open as per schedule for regular prayers by teerth-purohits only. The delayed opening of the temples for pilgrims, coupled with restrictions such as the mandatory negative RT-PCR test report, a daily cap on the number of devotees visiting the shrines besides compliance with mask wearing and social distancing norms, had severely affected the inflow of pilgrims.