The Char Dham Yatra will resume in a day with the opening of the portals of Gangotri and Yamunotri on Tuesday. However, the condition of the roads to Gangotri and Yamunotri has not yet improved while the water supply too has not been fully restored on the route. Due to the bad condition of the National Highway to these shrines at Gangnani, Sukki Top and Malla, the pilgrims would have to be prepared for a bumpy ride.
The water supply too is yet to be restored on the route. Most of the hand pumps are not working while the drinking water tanks are yet to be cleaned. If the arrangements are not made soon, many of the pilgrims may have to travel on the road on faith with dry throats. Even the hand pumps which were damaged during the 2013 disaster on both the pilgrim routes have not been repaired so far.
The Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines are to be reopened for the public on April 21. The palanquin of Goddess Ganga would leave the Mukhba village at 1.30 pm on April 20. The palanquin would cover 25 km bridle path through Jangla, Bhairon Ghati and other halts to reach Gangotri. The portals of Gangotri temple would be opened for devotees at 12.30 pm on Tuesday.
However, Jal Sansthan has not yet repaired most of the damaged hand pumps on the routes to these two shrines. Even the chlorination and cleaning of the Tank Type Stand Posts (TTSP) have not been done. In many tanks, the taps are blocked. Most of the pipe type stand posts (PTSP) are also damaged.
Meanwhile, for the past one month, the district administration is claiming to have completed the arrangements for the pilgrimage. Several meetings have been held in district headquarter, Gangotri and Badkot in this regard but the officials still appear to be negligent. Even on the main halt of Uttarkashi for the Gangotri pilgrimage, most of the TTSPs have not been cleaned.