If rallies are taking place with party activists n leaders rubbing shoulders why has Char Dham Yatra been closed leaving thousands of people starving?

The former Uttarakhand Congress president and founder of Forests Rights Movement of Uttarakhand (Vanadhikaar Andolan) Kishore Upadhyay has demanded opening of Char Dham Yatra in Uttarakhand with immediate effect as hundreds of local inhabitants and their hapless families have become jobless and lost their petty businesses in view of closure of these Yatras due to Covid 19 for the last several months. Kishore Upadhyay has posed a valid question from the government that if political Yatras and campaigns have been allowed in the Himalayan states with thousands of party supporters of various political parties rubbing shoulders with each other including buses and taxies full of passengers without following the adequate Covid 19 norms then why have the government stopped the Char Dham Yatras in Uttarakhand making thousands of poor n hapless families n inhabitants jobless with their survival at stake.

The senior Congress leader has taken a pledge to March to Badrinath with his friends n followers including the Chardham Yatra devotees shortly which has acknowledged the open hearted support of the Mahapanchayat as well.

The president of Mahapanchayat Krishnakant Kothiyal has in a press conference extended his total support to the Forest Rights Movement of Uttarakhand’s leader Kishore Upadhyay assuring that their hundreds of members and supporters will join him as and when they will be asked to join the March to four historic religious/ spiritual destinations of Uttarakhand viz Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri.

It may be recalled that Uttarakhand’s economy is primarily based on earnings through religious and spiritual tourism and the state government earns good amount of revenue through lakhs of tourists n devotees who visit the four religious Dhams every year but after the closure of the Char Dham Yatras not only has the state of Uttarakhand suffered badly economically due to Covid 19 lock down but thousands of family are also on the verge of dying of starvation after their earning members lost jobs and petty businesses in these religious n spiritual destinations being close due to stoppage of Chardham Yatras for more than 1.5 years.

Senior Congress leader Kishore Upadhyay said that though the decision for the closure was relevant and necessary earlier when Covid 19 was on its peak but since now all the offices, educational institutions, transport services etc have been opened including political rallies and parivartan as well as Janyatras going on unabated, without exercising any precaution or Covid 19 protocol in which the entire government, it’s chief minister and ministers are participating, then why is it that the Char Dham Yatra has been closed rendering thousands of families starving for want of jobs and opening of their petty businesses on which the sustenance of the poor families depend n bank on.

Former Congress chief Kishore Upadhyay has urged former Congress chief Harish Rawat, CPI Secretary Samar Bhandari, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal chief Kashi Singh Airy, Congress Uttarakhand chief Ganesh Godiyal, and state BJP chief Madan Kaushik to pressurise the government to immediately take a positive decision to open the Char Dham Yatras in order to help thousands of poor, hapless and suffering petty shopkeepers and jobless on the verge of starvation for the last several months.

It may be recalled that after the Covid 19 lockdown and closure of Char Dham portals the state has suffered enormously in terms of revenue earnings. According to a report in April by Indian Express the state has lost Rs 12000 crores worth of revenue due to non functioning of hotels, Temple Trusts, petty businesses, tourism sector involved in religious tourism, chopper service etc with footfalls of devotees and tourists coming down to four lakhs which was 38 lakhs a year or two ago. Not only this but the donations by devotees has also drastically reduced to Rs. 8 crores before the closure from Rs 55 crores earlier.